


FNAF: Reopening

by jayjay4750



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Five Nights at Freddy's 2, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, Gen, No Romance, No Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-29
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-02-23 04:23:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 74,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2534042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jayjay4750/pseuds/jayjay4750
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It took fourteen and a half years, but it has finally been done. Freddy Fazbear's pizza is finally reopening to the public. Prioritizing in the safety of the customers, the newer animatronics are equipped with the latest in facial recognition. But the old ones still lurk around at night, and when those lights go out, no one has any say as to what might happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll just clear up a few things about this story before we start.
> 
> 1\. For this story, FNAF 2 is a sequel, not a prequel.  
> 2\. I never said FNAF 2 isn't a prequel. It can very well be a prequel.  
> 3\. For accuracy purposes, the night guard salary has been changed to $7.25 an hour.  
> 4\. BB and the Puppet/Marionette will not be appearing in this story.

**PART 1: A BUILDING**

What can I do about this? Surely, there's nothing I can do, but something just pulled at me, trying to convince me to do something. I sighed as I sat on the stage, both of my legs dangling over the edge as the kids crowded around me. I couldn't help but smile—they could always cheer me up.

Freddy and Chica walked off the stage for the last time. For only a short period of time, we have been left on free roaming mode at day as well as night, allowing us to actually interact with the kids for real since the bite. It still pained Freddy to think about the incident.

They actually did reopen Foxy's cove for a short period of time last week, only to find that Foxy, being in the state of disrepair he was in, was too frightened to walk out in front of the children. He would do nothing but hide behind the curtains, even though he had the ability to leave at any time. Once the employees got onto him, they shut him down early and moved him to storage.

The company stopped hiring night guards after Mike Schmidt's so-called 'sack'. By the time he left, there was just a bit over a month left until the day the pizzeria was slated to close.

And today was that day. December 15, 1995. Our last day in the spotlight. I looked to Freddy, then to Chica. I could tell they were afraid of going back into storage after today. We all were. It was inevitable, but still, they wanted to find a way to avoid the same fate as Foxy, being left to rot in the dark room.

The last birthday boy of our time here was sitting at a table with his friends. He had just turned seven, and I heard his name was Harold. That's all I picked up from conversations around him. There were plenty adults chaperoning the many children who were running around.

They all sung happy birthday to Harold. We sung along with them, too. It felt gut-wrenching for us to sing along—we usually didn't because we often followed the singing of 'Happy Birthday' with one of our own songs. It wasn't our best, but I have to say that I was able to hang in there for the one character who doesn't sing.

The song ended. We played one of our songs for Harold, and once that was over, we were left to roam freely around the pizzeria. Naturally, we were to hang out with the party, so that's what we did.

Then I caught sight of Harold. His party hat was on in a silly fashion, but he wasn't as hyped as I would normally expect the birthday boy to be. Rather, he looked worried. I glanced around and saw Freddy and Chica still with other children.

I approached him slowly. He tried to hide his worries by placing a fake smile on his face, but I've seen enough. "Hey, Bonnie," he says to me in a cheerful way. Those bright eyes stared at me. Clearly, he was worried.

"Okay, what's the matter?" I ask him. I kneeled down next to him so my eyes met his. My ears folded down to listen to him. It wasn't necessary, but I still did it anyway—it was natural.

Harold sighed deeply. "Are you really leaving us forever?" he asks.

I thought to myself for a moment, trying to figure out a way to answer this. I can't lie, but I can't just simply say "yes" either.

"We'll never leave you," I finally answer. "Even when we won't be able to see each other in person, all four of us will be right here." I placed a paw on his chest.

Harold put his hand on his heart when I removed my paw. He stared at it for a while. "Even Foxy?" he asks.

I nodded. "Even Foxy will be there, even if he can't be here now."

Harold just stood there, completely dumbfounded. I could tell the next few years of his life would be a struggle without us. Something was just tugging at me to try to convince them not to do this, but I knew it was too late. I barely caught sight of a tear forming as he tried to look away.

"Aww, come here." I held my arms out to him.

He came forward to face me, eye to eye. Then he wrapped his arms around me, pressing his cheek against my chest. I wrapped my arms around him gently, careful not to hold him too tightly. "I'll miss you guys," he says.

If I could have cried, I would have done so right there. "I'll miss you too."

The day came to a close, and for the last time in a long time, we saw the light of day through the windows. The sunset scorched the road as it always did every evening. We couldn't help but look at the backstage every once in a while. The sign on the front door flipped for the last time, displaying the word 'CLOSED' to those outside.

And we were all lined up near the door that led backstage. One of the engineers, Kirsten, was inside. I took one last glimpse at the building before I stepped into the room. Upon taking that first step inside, I blacked out completely.

* * *

When I woke up, I saw two faces staring at me. I was facing a ceiling. I twitched my ears a bit. How long have I been out? It seemed like forever. My face felt weird. I couldn't move a single bit.

"Bonnie?" says one of the two. "You awake?"

I moaned. I've never seen anything like this. What is going on? From what I knew, we were to be shut off for good, but I'm awake right now.

I sat up, thinking everything over. The two in the room backed off a bit, and one of them positioned himself behind me.

My mind suddenly came to the others. They weren't here! I hopped to my feet and scrambled for the door, struggling through the arms of one of the people here. "Freddy! Chica! Foxy!" I yell out.

"We'll need completely new ones!" says the one who was holding me. "Turn him off!"

My eyes widened, though I continued to struggle to reach the door. With no luck, the world in front of me went black.

* * *

I became aware of what was going on sometime later. "Second try. I moved it over, tinkered with it a bit. But if we want to stay on schedule, this has to work. If not, then two things could happen. One, they would have to delay everything and something will happen to us, or two, they're going to reopen the place and add Bonnie later."

Again, I twitched my ears, but I didn't open my eyes yet. I thought of everything I already knew about myself, starting with the simplest things.

"My name is Bonnie," I whisper to myself, trying to adapt to the voice box. "Bonnie the Bunny. I'm from Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. I am an animatronic. My best friends are Freddy Fazbear, Chica the Chick, and Foxy the Pirate Fox."

Another voice, unintelligible, erupted in the room. It was quickly hushed by someone else. "Hush! Let it be!"

I opened my eyes and sat up slowly, looking around the room. It was quite stale. It was mostly empty, occupied only by a surplus of spare parts and the two right here.

Next thing to do was to stand up. I rose to my feet to find that I towered over the two. My ears almost reached as high as the door.

Looking over myself, I found that I was mostly light blue with white at the belly. The casing was hard, like plastic or something. I had buck teeth and four dexterous fingers on each hand.

I looked over to the two in the room. The one on the right raised his arms in victory. "Yes! It worked! Just wait until he sees him! Oh, this reopening is going to be so good!"

The other nodded and grinned. "Yep, and we've still got a bit of time to spare as well! Here, let's get him out of here so he can see them."

"You sure Freddy and Chica are done? We replaced them completely, but they asked us to move some things over for this one."

The one on the left nodded again. "Yeah, I think they should be good to go."

They headed over to me. One of them went behind me, and the world went black again.

* * *

I woke up again. I was on a stage this time, facing an empty array of dining tables. In the far back to the right was a door and some windows, revealing the outside world. The sun was just rising.

As far as these dining tables went, every seat was decorated with two balloons. The covers on the tables had confetti designs. Next to me laid a guitar.

I took a few steps on my own and soon found myself off the stage. I was about three rows back. Looking back at the stage, I found both Freddy and Chica beginning to move. Party string and lights decorated the setting. A banner lined the top, displaying the words 'GRAND REOPENING' in big white letters. There were posters of Freddy, Chica, and me on the walls.

I could see what was outside. I rushed over to the glass and peered outside. Several cars zoomed by my vision. A sign dangled on a hook, displaying the word 'OPEN' on my side. That probably meant those who read it from the other side saw the word 'CLOSED'. It would explain why the interior of the building is still empty for the most part.

But if the parking lot had to be described with a single word, 'empty' would be the single worst word that anyone could possibly use. It was packed with adults and children alike. Most of the children held balloons, and I could spot a balloon vendor outside selling them. Some of the children were already playing around as they waited. A red ceremonial ribbon was placed in front of the door, a group of people standing behind it. There were speakers on each side of the ribbon.

I continued to look around the place. The side of the dining area led to a series of two hallways. I turned left, which led me to a hallway that ended with a room. In front of it was a sign that said, 'Parts & Service'. It turned left before the end, leading to a much longer hallway with two rooms on either side. It ended with an office, where I could spot a figure staring at me.

I peeked into the rooms on the sides. Each room had two rows of tables and chairs. The plates on top of each table were aligned neatly, topped off with either a green or a purple party hat.

I decided to head back to the dining area, as the place was about to reopen in a few minutes.

"There you are, Bonnie," says Freddy as he walks up to me. "We were wondering where you've been."

"Really," I say. "I was at the party rooms."

"Oh. Okay. Just making sure you know when we're going. Be ready beforehand."

I nodded, and Freddy walked off, back to the stage. I snuck behind the front desk and found a calendar on the wall. A certain date was circled: Monday, July 27, 2009. It was labeled, 'Grand Reopening Day'.

As I came out from behind the desk, something in one of the pockets caught my eye. It was an article titled, 'FREDDY FAZBEAR'S PIZZERIA TO REOPEN AFTER 13 YEARS AND 7 MONTHS'.

I glanced at the clock, finding that I had about five minutes left. "Whatever. I'll get to this later if I feel up to it," I say.

"You're up! Get out!" says a voice. It came from the show stage. I glanced over there to find both Freddy and Chica leaving through the back exit. They were being led out by a man in a suit.

I looked out at the parking lot before following Freddy and Chica. We went around the building to the front, finding the crowd of adults and kids in the parking lot. All the employees were already positioned behind the ribbon. Many of the kids have stopped running around by now and were with their parents.

Someone handed a microphone over to the man while someone else gave ceremonial scissors to Freddy. The man turned on the microphone and tapped it to test it out. "Test, test, one two three, can everyone hear me?" His voice reverberated on the speaker.

Most of the crowd responded. "Yes," they all said.

"Okay, good," says the man, holding a smile on his face. "My name is Charles Heston, manager of the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza."

Cheering erupted throughout the crowd, which Heston silenced almost immediately. "It's been a long journey for all of us, but now it has finally been completed. After demolishing, after redesigning, after rebuilding and endless testing, everything has aligned just how it should. In all, this cost us a lot to do, especially the animatronics."

More applause in the crowd. Heston allowed it to die down before continuing. "Fazbear Entertainment is committed to family fun and above all, safety. Specifically with the animatronics. They are upgraded with the newest facial recognition technology. These playful machines, holding their places in the hearts of children, can also sense danger well before it arrives. We can assure you that all incidents of the old location will never happen again."

Mr. Heston went on to speak a bit more. I could tell some of the children were beginning to grow impatient, as many of them were looking up to their parents.

After another few minutes, Mr. Heston handed the spotlight over to Freddy, turning off the microphone. We all stepped forward, Freddy holding the ceremonial scissors wide open around the ribbon.

"I'm surely hoping you can all hear me," says Freddy. Most of the kids cheered. "Well, anyway, let's do this on the count of three!"

More cheers, which Freddy had to let die down before he could start.

Once the parking lot had gone quiet for the most part, Freddy started.

"One!" the three of us say.

"Two!" more people were joining in.

"Three!" the entire crowd exclaims. Freddy snipped the ribbon.


	2. Chapter 2

"Come on and join the family!" announces Freddy, the microphone causing his voice to echo through the wide open dining area. I was off wandering around with a group of kids. We had just come back from a fun time in the arcade—everyone had posted a high score at some point.

Some of the kids pulled their parents into the game room and raced them, or they challenged them to a game of air hockey. I ended up spending most of my off stage time in the game room, seeing how they wouldn't let me anywhere near Parts/Service and the cove was still down.

Freddy was on stage or in the dining area the entire time, while Chica, as expected, hung near the kitchen. A jolly good day it was for all of us, and seeing that it was grand reopening day, the place was completely packed that it was difficult for any of us to get around without being crowded by children.

The sun began to set. Families began to empty out of the pizzeria, much to the dismay of the children. I almost felt sorry for the kids, as they have only gotten the chance to meet us for the first time, and now they have to leave us. But I did know that they would be back for more.

The doors locked at 9:30. I stood on the show stage along with Freddy and Chica. The janitors were still finishing up, spraying the tables and cleaning the restrooms. At some point in time, one person entered, standing out over the rest. I couldn't read his name tag, but it would be tough to miss the fact that the word 'security' was sewn onto the back of his jacket.

He headed down the main hallway as the janitors finished cleaning the place up. They seemed to be in a hurry. They would sometimes glance at the clock and then relax, or tension in their bodies would increase and their hands would become nothing but a series of blurs.

Just before the two hands lined up at the twelve, everyone inside the building managed to finish their job and bail.

The pizzeria went dark. I could barely hear the faint sound of metal coming from near the main hallway, along with a voice.

I sat there in pitch blackness, knowing that both Freddy and Chica were still here. Then a light suddenly came on. I could hear a camera zooming, and I looked toward the curtain to find the shiny lens next to the light.

So they're continuing with the security guard. What's the whole purpose of having a security guard out at night if we're fit to protect the place to begin with? What could possibly be roaming around in the restaurant that could cause harm?

Question answered or not, curiosity took over. I left my spot on the stage and headed toward the main hall. Along the way, I ended up bumping into a few tables and chairs. Once I had reached the doorway, the lights came on, providing me with enough light to navigate the halls. The low buzzing resonated through the narrow passageways.

I turned right, then left to come face to face with the door that led to Parts/Service. It was barely open. The dim light from the hallway barely reached inside, so I could only listen to what was going on in there. Inside, the lights flickered, and I could barely catch a glimpse of broken parts.

Some of the objects shifted inside. I could tell from the noise of things hitting the walls and floor. I backed up to the corner, where I could easily leave should I ever feel the need to.

The sound of footsteps came. They were perfectly in tempo, with about one second intervals. Something was at the door. It began to slowly creak open. I retreated behind the corner and poked my head out, watching the door.

Suddenly, the door flung open. It crashed into the doorstop, and I was surprised it didn't just completely fly off its hinges. In the doorway stood a dark figure, almost reaching the ceiling. It had to duck under the door frame to get through. It turned right and began heading down the hallway that branched off into the party rooms.

A hand quickly pulled me back as the figure disappeared around the corner. The hand pulled me around the corner, to where the wall obstructed my view of the door. I turned around to find that Freddy had grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the door.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Kyell? The security guard? You're going after him?" says Freddy.

"No. I'm not even headed toward him! Well, at least not intentionally. I was just seeing what was happening here."

"After hours? If anything, you should go see what's in that room during day. Sneak out or check later."

Loud footsteps came rapidly toward us. They grew louder, and louder, until it felt like it was right beside us. "Too late!" I almost say in a voice that could be heard throughout the pizzeria. I fled back around a corner into the hallway that led back to the dining area. Freddy ducked under one of the doorways and hid in another room.

A few seconds later, loud rattling came from the end of the hallway. I risked glancing at Freddy, relieved that nothing was emerging out of the open door. Freddy was watching my spot, and I signaled toward the Parts/Service room.

"Are you crazy?" he whispers loudly so I could hear. "I'm not going in there, after seeing what just came out."

"Shush! Quiet!" I retort. "Just go. I'll follow behind you."

As gently as Freddy could, he headed down the hallway. His feet were moving at an extremely sluggish pace, seeing as how they seemed to click on the floor every time he took a step. Soon, we were standing outside the metal door. A light flickered, giving us a very brief glimpse of what was behind that door. It seemed to be open space for the most part.

Freddy gently tapped the door. It slowly opened up. There was a small light inside, illuminating half of the room. Inside was, as expected, several naked endoskeletons. Some torn up costumes and spare masks were also scattered around the place. But what really grabbed our attention was the amount of spare parts. They seemed to be everywhere, lined up neatly among the walls.

One thing in the corner caught my eye. It was a costume, but it seemed to be older. It wasn't made of the same material as ours. This one seemed to be made of a softer material, possibly fabric. It was obvious that this was an old Freddy Fazbear costume. It was worn-down, and has clearly been left in storage for a long time.

Another light flickered in the room, providing us with a split-second view of the entire room. Nothing else was here except for a Chica costume, also withered.

"There's nothing here," I say. "Just two previous generation Fazbear Entertainment costumes."

"Two," says Freddy. "Two here. Where are the other two? There's a Fazbear and a Chica here. Where's the Bonnie and the Foxy?"

I traced back to the figure and the series of noises that came from this room. Did someone accidentally activate the older Bonnie and Foxy, and now they're just wandering around the building? As far as I knew, no one but Kyell was in the building, and he was still in the office. The animatronics can't wander around on their own when they're powered off. The only logical reason seemed to be that someone reactivated the old animatronics somehow, and is allowing them to wander around the building.

Then I remembered that the figure that emerged from this room had taken a right turn down the hallway with the party rooms. Also, the noise seemed to head in the same direction. To add one more thing to that, Kyell's office was at the end of the hallway.

"Uh…" I start quietly, and then slowly raise my voice so Freddy can hear. "Should we go run a check on Kyell?"

Freddy shook his head. "I think it is best we leave him alone. I don't think he'd like anyone dropping in on him unexpectedly."

"Yeah… about that. The old Bonnie and Foxy are most likely headed toward him."

Freddy froze. "Then we should go check," he says, the change in his mind coming to him instantly.

We both exited the Parts/Storage room and took a right turn. As we headed down the hallway, we spotted an almost unrecognizable figure from behind. It was stepping into the office, giving Kyell no place to run.

I decided that it was too dangerous to attempt to enter the room this way. I went in one of the party rooms to the left and peeked out the doorway to watch as the figure just stood there, staring at what I knew was Kyell. I couldn't see him from here, but it was fairly obvious that Kyell was the only thing it could look at.

I glanced inside the room as a light flickered. There was an opening in the wall, leading into what seemed to be a vent. It headed toward the office, but there was no telling where it could possibly go. For all I knew, it could drop me in the closed down cove.

But I was in desperate need of a closer view, and taking this vent was the only way I could obtain a closer view. Freddy had gone the other way, and was peeking out from a party room on the other side of the hall. I glanced at him, and once I decided that he wouldn't take his eyes off of the figure, I bolted through the room for the vent.

Navigating through the tight space was difficult. I ended up bumping into the sides at least twelve times before I came to the first turn, which I also struggled through. I was trying not to damage anything, so I took it slowly. Spending time backstage getting repairs on day two wasn't the most pleasant thing to think of.

The vent turned to the right, which I imagined to be toward the office. Sure enough, once I poked my head around the corner, I saw Kyell staring up at whatever was in the office. I continued to struggle toward the end of the vent into the office.

I took a look at the costume. It was purple with a slightly brighter belly. Its left arm was completely missing, and several wires stuck out of the left shoulder. There were two buttons on its chest, and it wore a red bow tie. Its entire face was torn off, save for the lower jaw. I could see the wires in its face, along with two bright red dots where the eyes would be. Overall, the anatomy was similar to mine. Even the ears were the same as mine.

The only reasonable conclusion to come to would be that this was an old Bonnie costume, left to rot in the parts and service room. The absence of a face was… unsettling, to say the least, but it seemed to make the six and a half foot tall guard look vertically challenged.

Kyell was trying to remain as calm as one possibly could when a withered animatronic was standing over him. He had a Freddy Fazbear mask strapped onto his face, with tiny holes cut for the eyes and nostrils. Something lingered in my memory about the old animatronics thinking that any person out after hours was an endoskeleton without a costume, and that they would try to stuff them into a Fazbear suit. Possibly, he was trying to fool the old Bonnie into thinking that he was an endoskeleton wearing a bad costume, hoping that it would pass.

But the old Bonnie didn't seem to make any hint toward leaving. It just stood there, staring down at Kyell. It didn't seem at all convinced that Kyell was an endoskeleton in a suit.

My head was peeking out of the vent as I struggled through. I reached out, found a handhold outside, and pulled myself into the office. Kyell shifted uncomfortably, knowing that I had entered the room, yet he continued to stare at the costume.

Suddenly, the costume took a step forward toward Kyell. Without thinking, I stepped in front of it, obstructing its view of Kyell. It locked onto me—the eyes began to follow mine. I stepped over to the left, and it followed me rather than locking back onto Kyell. I stepped back in front of Kyell.

It recognized me as an actual animatronic. It no longer cared about Kyell. Once it was done scanning me, it turned around and headed back down the main hallway. Kyell flashed the light several times to make sure it was gone.

Once it was out of sight, I turned to find Kyell with the mask off, staring straight at me. He seemed quite surprised to find that a seven foot animatronic had just saved him from being stuffed in a suit. "Why?" he asks. "Why did you do it?" He continued to stare directly at me.

"I think a better question to ask would be 'Why wouldn't I have done it?'" I reply. "And the answer to that is nothing. There is no reason for me to just walk away and watch as that thing stuffs you in a suit."

"Then why don't you just stuff me in a suit? When animatronics see someone after hours, they stuff them in a suit. That's what I was told."

"Eh. I probably would if it weren't for the obvious differences between a person and a naked endoskeleton. They were probably referring to the wrong group of animatronics. Our generation is updated with the latest facial recognition technology," I sputter out subconsciously. The words seemed to slip out on their own, without my approval. We can get a bit quirky at times, though I knew this generation wasn't supposed to glitch out nearly as often as the previous one.

Out of nowhere, Freddy came into the room. From the way he walked in, I could tell he wasn't the happiest the bear could be. "What was that?" he demands.

"What, you didn't see everything that happened?" I ask.

"No, of course! I was looking for a way in since I noticed you were gone! I only saw the thing moving back toward Parts/Service."

"Okay, then I'll make it simple. I see Kyell, I see old generation costume in front of him. I see it make a grab for Kyell, and I jump in the way," I answer. "It sees me as an animatronic, it leaves. It ignores Kyell. Kyell isn't stuffed into a suit."

"Well, no arguing against that. But still. You saw that the old Foxy was missing too. Who knows where he is?"

"And that's why we have this," Kyell intervenes, slamming the camera viewing tablet onto the desk between us. The screen was flipped up, providing us a view of the dining area. "And I think I might have found him…"

He flipped over to the cove. Foxy was standing there on top of a more broken down but polished Foxy costume. It would have been pretty much impossible to tell who the old one was and who the new one was if it wasn't for the fact that we were updated with the latest in technology.

"Wait a second," I interrupt. "That place is still supposed to be closed!"

Freddy scoffed. "Well apparently, not at night."

I took a glance at the clock in the room. 4:22 AM. If the place still went by traditional night guard hours (which I assumed they did), then Kyell would be running out the door by 6 AM. Very faint footsteps reached our spot. Kyell would sometimes shine a light down in the hallway and through the vents to check if anyone was coming.

The rest of the night passed without any disruptions. Once we heard the beeping of Kyell's wristwatch, he made a mad dash for the door. His feet flopped on the tile floor, the sound of his footsteps echoing throughout the hallway. With three hours left until opening, Mike Schmidt checked in.


	3. Chapter 3

I can see the smiles in the children's faces as they dash throughout the restaurant. Some were simply relaxing at their tables, while some were enjoying themselves in the game room. Having just finished another song, we were all headed off the stage to simply chat with the kids.

But as we exchanged words with them, something continued to tug at me. It wanted to take me to Parts/Service, where the older generation animatronics currently reside. I knew what was in there; I knew the risk of going in there, yet it just felt like something I had to do.

That was probably why we weren't allowed in that hallway, at least until that part of the building opens up. Something about the older generation becoming a bit quirky at night, no matter what is attempted.

The Kid's Cove, as they were calling it, was nearly complete. The new Foxy was still hidden behind those curtains. Sometimes I would try to risk a glance through those curtains, just to see what they were up to. Of course, a security guard, most of the time Mike, always caught me 'straying away from the kids' as he called it.

So I decided to wait out the day until the coast was clear so I could check that spot. The doors locked, and Kyell clocked in. I still decided to wait for a bit longer to start moving. When I did, I took it slow, keeping as quiet as I possibly could.

"You're still going to go back?" asks Freddy as my foot hit the first step off the stage.

I continued down and back out toward the hallway. "What choice do I have? We can either find out what's in there in order to end all this, or we can risk Kyell's life for nothing."

He just shrugged. "I'm just saying. This is a pretty bad idea."

We both headed back down the same hallway, the lights dimming as we shuffled to the door. The pizzeria was pretty much pitch black by the time we were there. I grabbed the handle and slowly turned it, the door squeaking as it turned on its hinges.

Both of us took one step inside before hearing a voice.

"Duh duh dum dum dum, du dum dum dum. Duh duh dum dum diddly diddly dum. Dum dum diddly dum diddly dum dum dum dum—,"

It cut off suddenly. It seemed incomplete. Out of nowhere, one of the animatronics came sprinting out of the Parts/Service room, taking a right turn straight down toward Kyell. It was so fast it made me question if that was even a possible speed for an old generation animatronic to reach. Everything must have still felt tight after fourteen years of being locked up.

Freddy and I only had time to exchange glances before both of us left the room and headed down the hallway, leaving the door open. Kyell was shining a light all the way down, finding the animatronic sprinting toward him. From behind, we could barely see it, but we did manage to find that its right hand was replaced with a hook, and it had reddish 'fur'. Parts of the costume was missing, showing small bits of the endoskeleton. It's Foxy.

As we raced down the hallway, we could barely catch a glimpse of Kyell ducking under the desk in the office. I had no time to take the vent route—by the time I would get inside, Kyell would be out of the office, the tile floor smeared with blood, and he would be lying on his back as Foxy dragged him toward the Parts/Service room, possibly to stuff him in a suit, according to what I knew.

So I decided to head straight there and find out what I can do. Foxy hit the desk, and I crept around the office to find Kyell. He was still under the desk, covering himself with his arms. On his face was the same Freddy mask, probably just for good measure. There was no way a mask like that could fool an old generation animatronic.

"Where are ye…" mutters Foxy. He slowly backed off into the hallway, out of sight. "Where ye be hidin'…"

I crawled toward Kyell. "You okay?" I ask as I stand up.

Kyell ripped off the Freddy mask. "Yeah, I think I'm fine. Lucky he didn't find me."

I stared down the hallway. Suddenly, Foxy came straight out of the dark, diving head-first straight toward me. Just in time, I ducked under him, his hook nearly latching onto my ears. He was just centimeters away from me as he flew over my head.

He crashed right into the back wall. He laid on his side for a little while, and I just stood there as he attempted to stand back up. His head perked up, those glowing yellow eyes beaming straight at me.

Foxy slipped as he tried to stand back up on his feet. Once he was able to do so, he still wobbled from side to side, showing that he was clearly having problems. "Where are ye…? I know ye'r here!" he speaks up.

Freddy was in the party room again, peeking out and observing the situation. I turned my head toward him, and he remained motionless.

"Where is who? Who is around here?" I ask Foxy. What in the world am I doing?

Foxy twitched his head. "Ah, I knew he's around 'ere somewhere." He seemed to be ignoring me. Is eyes began to wander around, and I backed up to cover Kyell as Foxy scanned the room. I kneeled down to come face to face with the security guard.

"Not liking the job much?" I whisper to him.

Kyell shook his head. I could see sweat on his face from all the stress. "Not really."

"Look, you'd be in a suit right now if we weren't there the first night," I say. "For now, the only thing we're aiming for is to keep you alive for the rest of the week, then you can quit your job and find something safer."

He nodded nervously. It was clear he didn't want to ever come back to this place. I didn't blame him, seeing that there were four animatronics in the building trying to stuff him in a suit.

"Ah. There 'e is!"

Suddenly I felt something tug at my shoulder. It pulled me straight back and around the desk, into the hallway. It dropped me so I could gather myself again, and then proceeded to drag me on the tile floor by my ear. Then it pulled me up, bringing me to face Foxy, our costumes only inches away. "Where is yer' costume?!" he bursts out.

"What?" I ask loudly. "I'm in a costume. Can you see the endoskeleton anywhere? If someone needs a costume, it's you! You've got bits of your endoskeleton exposed on the arms and other places!"

Foxy's head twitched several more times, and the color of his eyes began to flicker between red and yellow. He placed his hand and hook on my shoulders and began to shake me. "You…" he starts, but then his voice trails off into the hallway. "Ye'—," he tries to repeat, but his voice box wouldn't allow him to deliver the message correctly. The only thing that came out was the sound of static and a slight click.

Once again, everyone could hear loud footsteps in the hallway. Something was here with us. Not Freddy, who was still watching from the party room. Not Kyell, who was still hiding under the desk.

Then for one moment, everything was silent. Everything was at a standstill, seemingly frozen in time. Several of the lights died out. Foxy stopped moving and continued to stare at me, his glowing eyes standing out over everything else in the hallway. Kyell began to peek out from behind the desk to watch us.

One more step. Then out of nowhere came an ear-piercing screech, one that would definitely stick to a person's head should they have been where I was when they heard it. Kyell cringed and tried his best to cover his ears with his hands. The sound reverberated off the walls, echoing throughout the building.

Then after a few seconds, there was Foxy lying on the floor, completely silenced, and Chica—the new generation edition, of course—standing there next to Freddy. Freddy held a chair in his hands, one that he must have taken from one of the party rooms.

Foxy continued to twitch on the floor. "Don't break him completely," says Chica. As his metal body continued to spaz out, he seemed to drift slightly toward the office. It was clear to everyone by now that he was malfunctioning, that there was nothing he could do out here anymore.

I was the first to step forward and grab Foxy by the arm. Chica grabbed the other arm, and we hauled Foxy over our shoulders. Slowly, as to avoid dropping him, we began to make our way back to Parts/Service.

Foxy's feet dragged against the floor, producing an uncomfortable scratchy noise. Once we had reached the room, the door was closed slightly, but not completely shut. Freddy opened it wide. We prepared to throw Foxy into the room, holding him by the torso.

His eyes flashed one more time as his head turned all the way around to try and face me. His mouth was wide open, and suddenly, he snapped at my arm, clamping his jaw down on thin air. I barely managed to pull my arm away from those sharp, white teeth.

The animatronic went flying into the room, and as quickly as she could, Chica slammed the door shut, and after some banging on the door, Foxy eventually gave up and went back to hiding in the room.

I spotted Kyell down at the office, shining a light at us. His hands were still on his ears, as Foxy had probably caused some ringing to ensue. He tried to shake his head to clear everything, but to no avail. He checked his wristwatch and moaned.

It's 5:57.

I headed down toward him. There were some tears in his eyes, knowing that he would be in a suit by now if we never showed up. He sat in the office chair and slammed his head against the desk, trying to escape from the nightmare. His fist then hit the wood as he finally gave up. He was crying.

He is getting out of this night alive, yes, but having Foxy pay him a visit is definitely not the worst thing that could happen to him. He knew he would have to come back tomorrow, and the next night, and the next night. Three more nights, and then he'll be able to leave the pizzeria forever, storing all of his memories of the place in a black hole.

I grabbed him by the shoulders. He knew it was me—he didn't try to scramble away from me like he would if he had seen someone else. "Hey!" I snap at him.

He came to attention. He faced me, trying to hold back any tears. "Why did I take this job? Now I have to sit through three more nights of this torture chamber, risk of death increasing with every second!" he half-shouts, half-cries.

"Listen to me right now," I say, trying not to sound too demanding. "You're going to make it through the rest of the week. No matter how bad it can get for you when you're here, just remember this: we'll be there. Your job's purpose isn't to die in a horrible way, with your eyes popping out of a suit, and you'll have to remember that. You hear me?"

He nodded slightly and coughed.

"You're here because of them. Someone has to watch them because of what happens with them at night. So they don't destroy the building. It's not much about keeping things out of the place. Rather, it's about keeping everything in."

His wristwatch began beeping again. All of the lights came back one. Freddy and Chica headed back to the show stage, and all noises coming from the Parts/Service room stopped immediately.

"Come on," I say. "Let's get you out of here. Maybe you just need to think this through."

Kyell nodded again and stood up from his chair. With sluggish, off-balance steps, he left the building through the dining area. Mike wasn't here yet, giving me an opportunity to see everything in Parts/Service.

I turned the knob of the metal door and pulled back. The light was on, giving me a clear view of everything that was inside. All four old generations were inside. There was the old faceless Bonnie, who sat slumped against the wall. The ruined Chica was lying on her face, both arms spread out over the floor. Old Freddy laid on his side, facing the door with those blank, expressionless eyes. Then there was Foxy, who was in a pile by the door. His head was tilted, and his eyes emitted no light.

Looking around the inside, I found nothing interesting. There was the same spare parts and tools should something ever break down, including one of us. The checkered floor had scratches all over it and was dusty.

On one of the walls hung four posters of newspaper clippings. Two of them concerned an incident in which children have gone missing at a local pizzeria, i.e. Freddy Fazbear's. The other two were of articles that discussed the closing down of Fazbear's Pizza fourteen years ago. The text, though some of it has faded, was still legible, and I could fill in all of the missing letters and words with what fit best.

Gingerly, I snatched all of the posters off the wall. I could read these on my own time. Right now, it's time to make preparations for day three.


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't care what anyone says about this place! It's my company, and you all are my animatronics! If I wanted to, I could have all three of you shut down before your third day, and we wouldn't want that, would we?" Mr. Heston's boiled red with rage, fresh out of the morning.

I had just walked back into the dining area, holding the four posters from the wall in Parts & Service in my right hand. Freddy conversing with the manager, and from Mr. Heston's tone, it wasn't going very well.

"Please, Mr. Heston. If you just listen! You know just as well as I do that the night guard is an extremely hectic job to have in this area," says Freddy in an attempt to reason with him. He almost sounded like he was pleading.

Mr. Heston sighed, blowing his hair up. "Fourteen years ago, right before this place closed down, my uncle told me that he had to move one his most valued employees, Mike Schmidt, to the day job. He said Mike was complaining about the animatronics trying to get into his office, despite being informed that they do move freely at night. And now I'm getting the exact same complaint from one of my own animatronics, saying that animatronics are getting into the office! Oh, the irony!" His tone rose sharply. "When he died, I went on to make sure everything runs just the way it did from the old edition of the restaurant. I promised to keep this place as safe as I possibly could, and that would mean that for every second this building stands, someone will be watching it, and if I can't have good, healthy animatronics that abide by the rules, I can just easily have you all shut down and close this place for good!"

That seemed to silence Freddy. He just sat there in shock, staring into space thinking about what he had just said. It was obvious. Mr. Heston threatened to shut us down again and put us in storage. Mike walked through the glass doors nonchalantly, already in his uniform, complete with his cap that clearly had the word 'SECURITY' etched on the front. He headed down the main hallway and took a glance back to find a man with a red face staring directly into the eyes of an animatronic. He shrugged it off, though, and headed down the main hallway.

"Okay," says Freddy in a softer tone. "I see how it is. If you're not going to talk about it, then I'll leave you to your business. Just give you time to calm down."

Mr. Heston turned his back to Freddy and, as silently as he could with sluggish feet, created more distance between the two. Soon, Freddy also left in order to make preparations for the third day.

I was able to get a good observation of the cove, somehow steering clear of Mike. It was still incomplete, although I could tell that they were nearing completion. Most of the design was already complete—there were pizzas, obviously fake, hanging on the walls of the cove, along with a few wrapped gifts stacked in a pyramid on the black and white tile floor. A curtain separated the cove from the main game area. The new Foxy was propped up against the wall in a powered-down state, his costume fully polished. Like the old one, his a hook replaced the right hand. Not a scratch or a speck of dirt was visible on his face.

As of right now, the time was 8:43. With seventeen minutes until the doors open, many of the employees in the area were flying across the entire dining area, setting down birthday plates and hanging banners for those kids whose special day was today and had scheduled a party here. Janitors were bolting down the main hallway toward the office to clean up the mess from Kyell's shift.

Light rays of sunshine shone through the windows reaching inside all the way to the front desk. Children were waiting outside attentively, waiting for someone to flip the sign on the door. Watching vigilantly through the windows, and becoming tense every time someone inside came close to the glass. They just want to celebrate, and by looking at them, I could tell whose special day it was.

But backstage was a different story. Freddy was walking back and forth, uttering some words in frustration. "With no way to show him, I'll show him!" I pick up from him.

"Hey," I say, interrupting his thought process. "No luck with Heston, I see. I knew Mr. Bronson would have been a better manager…" I trail off under my breath.

"Huh? What was that?" Freddy perked up.

"What? Oh, nothing," I say, dismissing the thought.

The rest of our little window of time between the end of night and the unlocking of the doors had ended. Just like the last two days, children were pouring into the pizzeria to get a taste of the new restaurant, starting with those who had birthdays today. Their mouths were watering in anticipation for a slice of pizza, of which those in the kitchen were scrambling about to prepare.

"We've got twins today!" exclaims Chica as she brushed past us.

Several minutes later, all three of us are standing by a table. Every single seat was occupied with a child, along with about six parent chaperones. The twins, both girls, were at the very front, wearing typical cone-shaped party hats. There were balloons attached to both of their seats, many of them having the words 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' printed on them in big bubble letters.

Each twin had her own cake. The side with the chair marked with 'JESSICA' had a rectangular-shaped chocolate ice cream cake with the top edges lined with whipped cream and the entire top face covered in icing. Its edges and corners were rounded. Also inserted into the cake from the top was six blue birthday candles. The side marked with 'JOSEPHINE' on the chair had a circular Oreo cheesecake with more rigid edges. The Oreo cookie was broken down into fragments, most of which sat on top, but a few fragments did lay on the side. A single candle, shaped like the number '6' was on top. It was mostly white, outlined in green, and decorated with purple and blue dots.

The case seemed to be that the parents allowed each of their kids to choose their own cake for the party. They started with the chocolate cake, lighting the six candles on top. The flame burned away at the wax, gently emitting a small amount of light.

 _Happy birthday to you,_  
Happy birthday to you!  
Happy birthday dear Jessica!  
Happy birthday to you!

The little girl blew on her candles, with her sister watching attentively. Light wisps of smoke fluttered about the building, rising and rising until it was no longer visible. Soon enough, Josephine's turn came, and a parent lit the single candle she had chosen for her birthday.

 _Happy birthday to you,_  
Happy birthday to you!  
Happy birthday dear Josephine!  
Happy birthday to you!

The songs came to a close, zooming past us in a flash. Chica set a bright pink cupcake down on the table. Finally, the pizza was ready, and each child received his or her own share of two small slices. The kids dug straight into the mouth-watering, cheesy pizza. With every bite they took, the sticky cheese stretched into thin strands before detaching on one end, either back down to the plate or into a mouth.

I knelt down near Jessica until I was about eye-level to her. She ran her hand over my head, on my right ear. I responded by running my right hand over her head and caressing her hair. She responded with laughter, muffled by the mass of cheese and crust in her mouth.

The two birthday girls both had smiles plastered onto their faces. True smiles this time, not like one of the last few times a child has tried to hide something. We always caught them anyway, and they would always regret hiding the truth. We were made for children specifically, to give joy, even if not in its simplest form. We wanted to make sure every visitor left happy.

And that's exactly what happened. The pizza was reduced to nothing but small bits of the cheese and crust, while the two cakes had turned from a neat chocolate cake and cheesecake into a series of crumbs scattered among many paper plates. The family and their party left, stepping out into the hot July sun.

Even after their departure, there were still many people left in the pizzeria. The parents, as usual, were simply relaxing or reading the newspaper at their tables while they allowed their children to run around and play games, either with each other or individually. They didn't seem to worry much whenever one of us neared someone, despite us being at least two feet taller than everyone under the age of ten.

Chica dished out a few trays of pizza while I waited behind the curtains, away from the kids for once today. Not that I didn't enjoy being around kids—I would give up anything to be able to hang out with children—but we still needed to take breaks every once in a while. Besides, there was still Kyell to worry about for tonight.

How much he could handle anymore was already out of my mind. He can either make it through his fifth night unfazed and unscathed, or something as little as a light flickering could send him running and screaming one hour into his third night. We just hoped it wasn't the latter. Besides, he has yet to even see and experience the old generation versions of Freddy and Chica.

It worried me. At several points during the day, I wished for the doors to lock, for Kyell to clock in, for the sun to go down, and for the lights to go out just to get another night out of the way.

Finally, I could see the sky begin to grow darker, the bright sunset unfortunately blocked out by several buildings. The clock continued ticking. 7:23. The last of the families left, and the doors closed early today. 8:00. Once again, janitors began working to tidy up the place for the night, almost as if they were setting the stage for what would be Kyell's torture chamber for the rest of the week. Mike Schmidt also left, leaving no security guard to watch the place for the next three hours. The only ones watching were the clean-up crew and us.

Kyell finally appeared around 11:28. Mr. Heston, after a long and tiring day at the pizzeria, greeted him on his way out. He also handed Kyell the camera tablet, and mentioned something about being more careful about keeping track of it, saying that he found it with the lid open on the floor of the office among a conglomeration of other office items.

Kyell simply nodded at Mr. Heston's advice. Wishing him luck, Mr. Heston left through the front door, checking the sign to make sure it said 'CLOSED' to those viewing from the outside. I watched as Mr. Heston hopped into his van and pulled away from the pizzeria.

11:33. Kyell headed down to the office, and I followed him. He valued every single second he had in between his arrival and the start of his shift. He must have checked for everything at least six times over, laying out the Freddy mask, the camera viewing tablet, and his phone on the desk.

"You think you'll be able to make it through the night?" I ask.

Kyell breathed heavily and checked his pulse. "It's pounding at my chest," he murmurs before raising his voice. "I'll try to get through this night without going insane like I did last night. I'm just really hoping that Foxy is the scariest one I'm going to encounter during this shift." His voice lowered to a mumble. "If he even runs down here tonight." He continued to check for everything. "Tablet, check. Mask, check. Everything's where it should be, check."

"You really don't seem that ready. You seem to be panicking already, and the shift hasn't even started," I mention.

"Gee, thanks," he says in reply. "I really needed that."

"Look. Just take a deep breath. Relax. You are going to make it through this night. You hear me? You are going to make it through this night, and the next night, and the next night."

Kyell did as I told him, breathing deeply and allowing himself to loosen up a bit. "Yeah, I hear you."

I nodded. "Good."

I headed back over to the show stage for final evaluation. Freddy was watching the last of the clean-up crew scurry off onto the street. The last one had bolted out of the door just in time, because as soon as the door closed behind him, the lights went out, plunging us into pitch blackness.

Again.

 


	5. Chapter 5

In the dark restaurant, I picked up the sound of footsteps. Not fast-moving, like Foxy’s. No, these steps were a lot slower, and they were barely audible to someone listening from the show stage.

I didn’t know the place well enough to try to get to Kyell in the dark. I could probably knock over a table, or become more lost than I already am. Even if I have wandered these premises nonstop for the past two and a half days, I still wasn’t ready to try to navigate through the dark.

A small light flashed from the main hallway, providing me with a small point of reference as I wiggled around on the stage. The camera whirred, followed by a few more footsteps and the sound of static. Something dropped onto the tile floor in the hallway.

Slowly, I tried to make my way to the steps that led off the show stage. I crawled over there, reaching out for a surface with my hand before advancing forward. Once my hand was back on the floorboard and not hovering over the floor of the dining area, I gingerly moved my knee forward.

I didn’t know where anything was, except for the dim light in the main hallway. Then, all of a sudden, another light flashed in the dining room, giving me a small glimpse of what was going on in such a wide open area.

The buzzing stopped. More footsteps down the hallway, followed by a series of light clicks and beeps. My hand finally found the first step down, and I grabbed onto the rail as my feet approached the carpet, landing on each step with a light click.

I ended up hugging the wall as I tried to get to the main hallway. It wasn’t the best available technique, but it worked. It took some time, but soon, my hand was reaching through the doorway that led to the main hallway. The light was still on, so I could see what was inside.

I peeked around the corner before retreating back into the dining area. There was something inside, but that was all I knew. I didn’t who who—or what—it was, and I hadn’t a clue as to where it was headed. Maybe I could just catch a little glimpse of who was there.

Again, I risked taking a look around the corner. Whatever it was, it had left. It was probably one of the older generation, as it was standing right in front of the now open door. The dark abyss that the Parts/Service door led to made me feel sick. Who knows what could be going on in there?

I crept down the hallway like I did the past two nights, sticking to the right side. Should anything appear, I could easily hide in one of those two rooms.

Out of the door came a towering figure. The old Bonnie stomped on the floor with every step he took, unable to express anything. The only sounds that he was able to produce was a series of incomprehensible clicks, followed by static. No working voice box.

The dark purple figure leaned over to one side. The wires that replaced his left arm stuck out a bit more since our last encounter. Once again, two tiny red dots replaced what should be the eyes, and this time each one was flashing individually with no set pattern.

His exposed endoskeleton right hand grabbed the door frame as he continued to lean over to his right. He scanned his surroundings, surveying the entire hallway to the best of the broken machine’s ability.

I dove into one of the rooms to the right in order to evade him. As I watched him pass by and head toward the dining area, something tapped on my shoulder.

I snapped, almost hitting whatever was right behind me. Turning my head to face it, I met two large eyes staring straight at me. They belonged to another member of the old generation. The eyes bobbled around within their sockets too much to belong to a new generation animatronic. The teeth—oh, the teeth! I nearly jumped out of my costume when I saw how big they were compared to the mouth—or beak, according to the costume. There was the costume’s teeth, then the endoskeleton’s teeth, and both sets were almost as big as the entire head!

As far as height went for this one, she was probably the shortest animatronic I have ever seen. She probably matched Kyell’s height around six and a half feet.

Old Chica continued to stare at me blankly, her jaw wide open. She observed mainly my face, trying to determine whether I was a human/endoskeleton without its suit on, or if I did have a costume on. Of course, unless something went wrong like with Foxy, I knew what would happen.

And it did happen. After a few seconds of observing, old Chica walked out of the room like I was never there to begin with, and turned left to the dining area. It gave me a window of time to go back and try to find old Bonnie, who has since disappeared from the doorway.

Several more lights flickered down hallways, revealing nothing of importance. The whirring of a camera followed, and then static as the one in the corner dipped down. The sound of slamming echoed throughout the wide open hallway that led to the office. Kyell was still inside, holding the Freddy mask in hand.

He flashed a light down the hallway again. The old Bonnie was standing there, slowly closing in on the office once again. Kyell quickly strapped the mask on before old Bonnie even came close to the entrance, possibly thinking that he would leave him alone if he saw the mask from farther away. Nothing wrong with trying out something like that, but I could imagine that having to see out of the mask would be really irritating. It should make it impossible to see any of the live camera feed.

Freddy appeared in the doorway. “Anything yet?” he asks as he steps onto the tile floor.

I pointed down the hallway. “Old Bonnie down there, old Chica in the dining area, I think. Nothing too special yet. No Freddy or Foxy.”

“How’s Kyell holding up down there with your counterpart?”

I shrugged, glancing back down the hallway. “He’s already got the mask on before old Bonnie’s even reached the office.”

Another metallic impact. I rushed down the hallway to find that old Bonnie was straying away from the main door toward the corner right outside the office.

Freddy headed back to the main dining area to watch on Chica, only to return to my position watching Bonnie several seconds later. “Chica’s got an eye on her counterpart,” he says, entering one of the party rooms to look out of. “She should be fine.”

I stuck to the left side, or Kyell’s right, as I watched old Bonnie continue on such an unpredictable path. One moment he would be headed toward the office, then he would suddenly change direction to a party room or back to the main hallway. Wherever he was going, I sure hoped that it would have nothing to do with the disguised human inside the office. I became tense every time the direction change involved closing some of the distance between him and Kyell.

Kyell ducked behind the desk, taking the tablet with him. A moment later, old Foxy breezed straight past old Bonnie, leaving him confused as he tried to navigate his way around. Again, he dove straight at the desk, obviously catching nothing but thin air as he flew over it. He slowly scanned the room before leaving back to Parts/Service.

I continued down toward Kyell, once again taking the vent due to old Bonnie’s presence. Once again, I had to struggle through the enclosed space, careful not to dent or scratch anything.

Once I had reached the office, I found Kyell ducking behind the desk, hugging the tablet between his arms and chest. He then proceeded to flip the thing open for a few seconds, take note off all of the animatronics’ positions, and close the tablet again to bring the mask down.

He noticed me crawling out of the vents and sighed deeply in relief. “At least someone’s here,” he says. “Where are the others? Noticed that the chicken’s also left the room.”

“Chica, both old and new, last time I checked are in the dining area,” I tell him. “Freddy is—,”

A deep voice cut me off. It was a very low laughter, resonating throughout the entire building. Somebody is on the move.

Kyell flipped the mask over his head and threw all of his attention back at the tablet. Again, he scrolled through all of the camera feed, shining lights where necessary. Once he had reached the Parts/Service room, however, he found that the last of the old generation animatronics had gone. There was nothing but the black and white tile floor along with several parts strewn across the room.

“Okay. Breathe,” he tells himself, doing as he says. “You’re going to be fine, Ky. You’ll make it through the rest of the week.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “Just two nights, four hours, and eleven minutes. Yeah, nothing to worry about. It’s simple. Mask off, check feed, mask on.”

The tablet continued to feed him live camera feed. Bonnie was still wandering aimlessly down the main hallway, near Parts/Service. He went over to the main hallway camera and almost missed it. A figure was inside the front room on the right, which was the darker of the two rooms. The head poked out, two bright white dots staring directly into the camera.

Kyell continued to breathe deeply. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, his chest puffing out and sinking back in as he leaned back against the desk. “You’ll be here, right?”

I nodded. “Always.”

Kyell continued to keep all eyes on old Bonnie down the hallway, sometimes checking Foxy and Freddy every now and then. It was difficult to see old Freddy on the cameras, as he always hid in the dark or behind a door, or something. But he would always spot those bright white eyes on the screen, sometimes staring at the camera, sometimes at something else.

Once, while cycling through the cameras for what was probably the twenty-second time, he found something else lurking about in the main hallway. Freddy was not visible on the screen, meaning he has either moved or the figure in the hallway was blocking him out.

From the right side of the office came a rough sound, like metal rubbing against metal. It was the same sound that would come when I was approaching through the event, but it was a lot louder.

I shot an unsure glance toward Kyell. He stared back at me, anxious about what might be in that vent. Still, that didn’t stop me from walking over there and push a large white button, shining a light into the vent.

Kyell yelped loudly, flipping the Freddy mask back down over his face. Old Freddy’s laugh rung throughout the pizzeria once again as he moved to another room. I spotted Freddy heading down the hallway in search of old Freddy.

I held the light button down glancing into the vent. Old Chica was crawling through the vent, struggling through the narrow passageway. There was no way to get rid of her without something to keep her out.

So we simply took note of her placement inside that vent. Kyell was now hiding on the other side of the desk. The buzzing of the cameras could be heard around the area.

Leaving old Chica where she was, I looked over the desk and at the camera tablet. Kyell’s eyes were set on old Freddy, who was facing Freddy in the far left party room. He checked on Foxy again to find him preparing for another run down to the office. Old Foxy shook his head before sprinting straight out of Parts/Service, down the hallway.

Kyell had to close the tablet and flip the Freddy mask over his face again. He held his breath as the withered animatronic fox dove over his head once again, crashing into the back wall for the second time tonight. I could only listen—I had to keep an eye on old Chica until someone else could arrive, now that I had to defend Kyell from the rest of the animatronics.

Foxy left the office again, sauntering down the hallway, Kyell poked his head over the desk with the Freddy mask still over his face to see if there was still anything there. He flashed a light down the hallway and yelped again.

I glanced at the doorway to the office. Old Bonnie was standing there, presumably staring down at the desk. It was hard to tell due to the lack of a face. Chica was still headed down the hallway for us, moving as fast as she possibly could.

Great. Now I had to be in two places in the office at once. One place to keep old Bonnie away from Kyell, and another to keep an eye on Chica. Because I knew that Freddy was tracking down his counterpart, and the Foxy won’t be running down soon, I grabbed a chair and moved it in front of the vent to the right. It wouldn’t hold her out of the office for long, but maybe it could buy me a few seconds to distract old Bonnie.

Old Bonnie scanned the office again, finding nothing but me. I was kneeling down, jamming the chair into the vent. Once I had felt it was secure, old Bonnie was farther into the office, searching for Kyell.

How to distract him? I had one idea, but it was probably too crazy—much too risky for someone like me, a perfectly polished animatronic in top condition. “It’s not a good idea, Bonnie,” I tell myself.

Yet again, I couldn’t think of any other way to stop my counterpart. Plus, should I sustain any damage, they could easily repair me and have me back in business in less than a month. Kyell, on the other hand, can’t be replaced, can’t be repaired. “It’s a matter between saving someone while you can be fixed, or playing it with greed and wasting something that can’t be reused,” the other half of me says.

“You’ll spend a whole week backstage if you do this,” my ‘no’ side continues to argue. It continued to tug at me, urging me not to do it, but I had already decided to go ahead with this

So I decided to do it. Standing up tall and facing my counterpart, I reached over my head for the joint, the narrow gap between the back of my head and shoulders. It was invisible to the naked eye. I pulled, and something snapped. It moved up and down freely with my hand, obstructing my view when not aligned perfectly.

I pulled the mask off, revealing my own endoskeleton head, my eyes glaring straight at the withered costume standing in the middle of the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Anyone could call me crazy for doing this, and I wouldn't blame them for thinking so.

No, not crazy. More like demented. Yes, that would probably be a better word to describe the thoughts running through my mind  right now . Should anyone with an  actual human brain see me in this state, they would probably  be sent running to their parents, traumatized by the simple sight of an animatronic holding its own face. Once again, I blame no one but myself.

It's against the rules, I knew that. I knew what could happen, and I was willing to take that risk to keep this night guard alive until the end of the week. They might put me backstage if something  is damaged . What does it matter? Everyone will probably blame Kyell for this, and he may very well receive a pink slip from Mr. Heston for something he isn't responsible for. Yet again, what does it matter? The quicker he's out of here, the better.

It felt so weird, and my eyes had to adjust to the lack of a filter. Everything seemed a tad bit brighter. It wasn't too much to handle, but it was very noticeable.

I could expect anything. Old Freddy could potentially be right behind me at this very moment. Old Foxy could be preparing for his third run down to the office tonight. Old Chica could break into the office through the vent. Old Bonnie is right in front of me.

He's my target. He's the one whose attention I want primarily. Managing to lure another character away from the office would just be both a bonus and an added obstacle at the same time.

His head snapped at me, and he turned to face me directly. I began pacing myself out toward the hallway, starting with baby steps that increased in size every time my feet touched down. I held my mask like a helmet, careful not to disturb any of the wires inside. That was difficult, as I held it with a death grip—if I lost this, then everyone would have to start all over again.

Rather than turning away, he scanned me thoroughly. I knew what to expect from him, I knew what to expect him to do. He approached me, and I continued to back away from him, into the hallway.

He's right behind me, I think to myself. Old Freddy is probably right behind me and waiting for the moment to strike.

I couldn't take it. I turned to check if anyone was behind me. Nobody there, but when I turned back to face old Bonnie, he had come  much closer than I expected him to. I jumped, startled by his sudden approach.

A series of beeps and clicks came, followed by static. It was as if old Bonnie was trying to say something, but couldn't due to the lack of a working voice box.

Both Freddy and his counterpart came scrambling down the hall. "What are you doing?" Freddy calls out, obviously not pleased with my decision to take off my mask.

Old Bonnie lunged straight toward me. My mask nearly fell between my arms and torso  onto the ground, but I managed to catch it by my fingertips. I took off straight down the hallway with no set destination, just looking for a place to lure old Bonnie away from Kyell.

Kyell shined a light down the hallway, providing me with a clear view of where I was going. I narrowly avoided falling over a chair that had been conveniently moved to the middle of the hallway, possibly during a little scuffle between Freddy and old Freddy. As I ran, I tried to kick it back toward old Bonnie, thinking that it might slow him down a bit.

As I closed in on the door to Parts & Service, the light that Kyell was holding down died out, followed by the sound of metal to metal contact in the office.

I glanced back. Old Freddy was making a break straight for me. They wanted to complete my suit, that was all, but with the way I predicted that they would do it,  the chance of breaking down was quite high.

I reached the door. It was  partially closed, so I pulled it straight open. It swung straight  outward , and looking back, I could see  all of the animatronics headed down the hallway, thankfully away from Kyell. Freddy and Chica were going after each other's counterparts. Old Bonnie was still moving down the hall, continuing to gradually close the distance.

This was a good spot to put the mask back on. The only problem is, old Freddy was too close for me to take that risk. He could probably split the mask in two if he hit me directly.

Something inside the room grabbed my waist. It got me so suddenly. One moment, I was preparing to take on the old animatronics, and the next, something is pulling me into Parts & Service.

I hit the deck, sliding on my back, and my mask skidded across the floor. Another light turned on inside the room, and I looked up to find that Foxy had pulled me in. His crown pointed at the open doorway as he attempted to run out, but he  was intercepted by Freddy and knocked flat on his back.  Geez . It was like he wasn't already having enough problems.

Chica also shoved old Freddy into the room. He worked to stop himself and attempt to get back out, but it was too late. Chica and Freddy have already worked to close the door, and although both Foxy and Freddy both slammed against it with everything they had, they had no such luck in opening it. Someone was blocking the door, leaned up against it.

I looked up again, seeing that both old Freddy and Foxy were in the room, still recovering. I felt something in my hands, and realized that my mask was still off. My eyes pointed me to an empty  Fazbear costume in the room. Oh no.

As fast as I possibly could, I struggled to find my mask. I found it face down next to the wall and scrambled over to it. Then I had to slip on the mask. There was no time to check for any dents or frayed wires—I can check for those in the morning. Soon my eyes were back under the filter. Once I heard the satisfying click that told me my mask  was locked in place once again, I stopped moving so erratically and watched as both old Freddy and Foxy turned around.

They both did so slowly, having given up on trying to get back out for the rest of the night. I regained my feet and was standing about three inches over Foxy, while my height, not including the ears, was about the same as old Freddy's.

"Congratulations," old Freddy says in a distorted voice. His voice box seemed a bit quirky, as it continually switched from accent to accent. "You just trapped all of us here for the rest of the night."

I shrugged nervously, opting to remain silent.

"Tell me why, exactly, you decided to take off your mask? I'm sorry to break it for you, but taking off your costume in this building is strictly prohibited," he continues.

"I have my reasons," I say quietly, not wanting to fully admit that we were protecting the supposedly naked 'endoskeleton' from being stuffed in a suit. "I'm sorry. I'll make sure to keep my costume on at all times," I blurt out subconsciously in  an attempt to keep him from wanting to beat me up.

Foxy began to claw at the door again. His hook scratched the barrier, leaving light marks on it. I knew that nothing would work, that the door wouldn't budge no matter what any of us try. Until the night is over, I'm stuck in this room with two old generation animatronics, and now I have to figure everything out on my own.

"Sorry, Bonnie! Can't have Foxy running around the building again!" exclaims Freddy, trying to find a way to keep the door shut.

Sure. I understand. Just leave me in here with these two for two whole hours while I could really be out there contributing.

But what was there  to be upset about? It was a two-for-one deal. If the door stays closed—and I swear it will need a good lock once we're done here—then Kyell and the other two will only have to worry about old Chica and old Bonnie. In exchange, I'm certainly stuck here for the rest of the night.

I headed to the back, which was one of the more illuminated parts of the room. The light was on the ceiling, and it  was pointed at such an angle that it pointed directly at the back corner.

Watching as Foxy continued to attempt to break free from this prison, I leaned against the wall and slid down until I was sitting. I allowed my ears to droop down, bracing for the incoming boredom of having to watch over these two ruined animatronics try to break out.

"It's no use. That door's not going to open anytime soon," says old Freddy.

Foxy ignored him and continued to scratch the door. He turned the handle several times and pushed  outward , only to have some obstacle outside stop him.

It seemed to go on for hours. Foxy just wouldn't give up, but no matter what he tried, nothing ever worked.

After  an eternity of listening to loud scratching noises, old Freddy finally took action. He gently pulled Foxy away from the door, Foxy's arms still flailing and reaching for the exit to this prison. Then Foxy just went limp when old Freddy reached behind his head, tapping something on the back of his neck. He carefully placed Foxy down on the floor, Foxy's eyes staring infinitely into blank space.

"I don't think he'll be malfunctioning any time tonight," says old Freddy, voice still distorted. At least the accent change has slowed down, if not stopped. He shot a glance at me before continuing to pace himself around the room.

I pressed my head  back against the wall . "Don't look at me. I'm doing nothing. I'm just waiting for Freddy to unblock the door so I can get out."

Old Freddy took the empty  Fazbear costume in the room and laid it out across the floor. As each second continued to tick by, the sound of  Kyell's voice slowly died away.

Old Freddy kicked the floor, his foot barely brushing the tile floor. In the light, little specks of dust flew through the air, going up to the ceiling. "Man, if I could be out there  right now I'd bring that endo his suit," mutters old Freddy.

I shot a confused look at him before realizing that he was an old generation animatronic. They were not updated with the latest technology, and that included facial recognition. I didn't want to try anything new at the moment, so I restrained myself from uttering even a single word suggesting that Kyell was not a naked endoskeleton.

Tick, tick, went the nonexistent clock in the room. I made all of my guesses on the time from what I could hear from outside. I could hear someone say "four ," and then "four forty," suggesting that it was about to turn five.

I continued to listen to what was going on outside, but it quickly became boring. There wasn't much going on with only four out of seven animatronics still roaming around at this time.

Soon enough, the tension was suddenly upheaved, and a wave of relaxation seemed to sweep over everyone inside the building, humans and animatronics alike. I could hear something moving outside as Freddy was probably unblocking the door. "Can I come out now?" I ask.

"Do you have your costume on?" replies Freddy's voice from the other end.

I gave with a simple one-word answer. "Yes."

"Then feel free to come out," says Freddy, opening the door. Kyell was standing in the hallway, treating a minor nosebleed with a tissue. There were a few drops of blood on the floor, although it was something the janitors could easily clean up.

I headed over to him. "Easy night?" I ask.

"By far the scariest. You without a mask is probably the scariest thing I'll ever see in the next several years," says Kyell. Again, I blamed no one for thinking that way.

But his reply didn't answer my question. "Was it easy?" I ask again.

Kyell thought for a moment. "Eh, it was a bit difficult for the first few hours, but it got pretty easy for the most part after Foxy's second run down. After that, I was really only concerned about old Chica."

"Okay. I see. Now run off. You've got two nights left here, and I think tonight is when we get real."

Kyell left the building, the tissue still pressed up against the right side of his nose. As he left, I could hear another voice, Mike Schmidt, headed in our direction. Man, he just comes and goes  whenever he wants, doesn't he?

I began to head back toward the show stage until I passed by the Parts & Service door. Behind the open door was the withered costume of Bonnie, slumped against the wall. Chica and Freddy were working to rearrange things in the Parts & Service room, as well as getting old Chica inside.

That left me to my counterpart. He looked extremely fragile, like anything could come off if I applied even a little force to it.

I grabbed his right arm and tested it. There were no noises or sudden jolts when I pulled.

As I was pulling old Bonnie around the door and about to throw him into the Parts & Service room, Mike came around the corner with a flashlight. I could help but look at him.

"What are you doing down here?" asks Mike. "Why is that out?"

"Oh, this?" I pointed at the old Bonnie costume. "I'm just cleaning up a mess from last night. You know, things can get weird at night if you know what I'm implying."

Mike nodded, his face unmoved. "Well, I'll let you three finish whatever business you're up to."

He did come our way, but only passed by on his way to the office. I had no idea of how messy the office looked, but it probably looked like something went down there. Mike gave Freddy and Chica a small wave as he passed by them.

I finished the job, pulling Bonnie into the room and propping him up against the wall so he was in a sitting position.

I joined Freddy and Chica outside the door to Parts & Service. Grabbing the side of the swinging panel, I closed the door, but of course the lock  was broken .

Before heading back to the show stage, I had Freddy check me for any scratches or small dents. He found a small scratch on my back from when I slid across the Parts & Service room, and more small streaks on my left shoulder and another one right next to my left ear. It didn't stand out, but it was noticeable to the keen eye.

I was lucky to have only sustained that much damage. I was expecting a lot more, and I would definitely have to look into my mask and make sure nothing went wrong when it slid across the tile floor.

"Don't do that again," says Freddy, finishing inspection. "I don't want to see my friends put backstage because of something like that."

Thinking back to  Kyell's performance on his second night, I had to admit that it was pure terror that night. Although he did better a few hours ago when it came to keeping his sanity, I still had my doubts. I asked myself some questions I didn't know the answer to.

Unfortunately, one of those questions was whether or not Kyell could make it through his fourth night.

Let alone the fifth.


	7. Chapter 7

I was backstage, the doors set to open in about thirty minutes. Freddy was back here with me, checking for any other damages.

"Anything?" I ask.

Freddy stood up after checking my foot. "No, not that I can see."

I sighed. "Well, that's a good thing."

Freddy stared at me with a blank expression. He moved his mouth, though no words seemed to come out.

"What?" I ask.

"Your jaw isn't moving in sync with your dialogue," he says. "It's stuck shut."

I groaned. Of course something had to go wrong. Something probably went wrong with the wiring in my mask when it slid across the floor. I reached behind my head and the mask clicked. I was about to pull it off and inspect it, but Freddy grabbed my hand before I could.

"There's no time. Can you just make it through the day without talking?" he says.

I nodded. "Heston will be real pissed about this," I say. "Plus, why hasn't anyone noticed this before? If I at least knew about it beforehand then we could've found a way to fix it by now."

Freddy shrugged. "Just run through the day silent, then we'll figure out what we can do."

Once again, I groaned. "Fine." I deactivated my voice box, rendering me incapable of speaking.

As the swarm of children came pouring in, I tried my best to communicate to the kids without having to speak. I stayed with Freddy most of the time—he had pretty much volunteered to be my speaker.

Another party came in. It felt awkward having to take part in the party, in all the singing. As the notes fell out of everyone's mouths, I just stood there as that one character who stands out one way or another. I tried my best to remain silent, although the temptation to just switch my voice box back on and speak to someone was growing.

Once the candle blowing was over and the children scattered throughout the pizzeria, Freddy had decided to head over to the game room, so that's where I also went.

"Excuse me, Bonnie?" a child asks, tugging at my left arm. I recognized him as one of the kids participating in the current birthday party in the dining area. "Why won't you speak? I know you can talk."

Well, how am I supposed to respond? I'm not exactly the best at communicating with gestures, and even if I could, I doubted he would even be able to understand.

I shrugged at him, still opting to remain silent. Thankfully, Freddy had noticed him. Freddy was the one who kneeled down and addressed him.

"He lost a bet yesterday and now he has to run through the entire day without speaking," he lies. It was a creative one, and the truth is, the statement can't be proven false.

The little boy nodded and grinned at me. I tried to smile back, but the dysfunctional jaw, of course, stopped me from doing so.

It soon became a bit annoying, having to stick to Freddy throughout the entire day, unable to talk with the kids. At one point, I almost turned my voice box back on out of pure annoyance, but Freddy urged me not to.

The seconds ticked by, becoming minutes, and then becoming twelve full hours of muteness for me. I was just about ready to burst by then. The bubble was at its maximum size, and everyone was expecting me to just burst out with as many words as I could think of. The last family finally left the pizzeria, and right away, from backstage, I switched my voice box back on.

"That wasn't very fun. I'm not doing that again. Next time something breaks and the jaw stops moving I'm just going to run out there and begin speaking without moving my jaw. I don't care what they say I'm supposed to do. I'm breaking the rules," I blurt out from backstage. The words seemed slurred. There was little to no pause between each sentence.

"Wow. Is he really that upset over not being able to talk for a day? To be honest, I don't think it's too much to ask for," says one of the janitors. His voice was very faint, and I barely managed to pick up on their conversation. I came on stage to listen to them.

"Apparently," says another. "And he's only the guitarist too. I don't want to imagine what it would be like if Freddy couldn't speak for a day. That means no singing."

Freddy glared at her. I looked out to the parking lot, and soon enough, Kyell Minsky's car had just pulled into the parking lot. He emerged from the vehicle, stopping for a breather when he was just outside the door.

He entered the building and rushed toward the office. With about fifteen minutes until lights out, those inside started to move much quicker.

The janitors checked out, and soon enough, for the fourth time this week, the lights went out in the building, leaving Kyell's lights as the only source.

Right away, many of the lights began to flash throughout the building. I began to leave the show stage, taking the chance I had to get to the office before anyone arrives there before me.

Something already crashed down in the office. I haven't even left the show stage yet! Ditching all safety techniques, I hopped straight off the show stage and rushed through the dining area in the dark, knocking over several chairs as I sprinted.

When I found the main hallway, I saw Foxy stomping into Parts & Service. He mumbled several words beneath his mouth and twitched erratically. It hasn't even been five minutes, and Foxy has already run down to the office for the first time tonight.

Kyell continued to play with the lights, flashing them whenever he could. He seemed to be using the lights more than usual.

His eyes were on the tablet when I reached him. They seemed to stick to the device, but I heard a noise down the hallway. Then there was the so und of metal rubbing against metal to my right. With my hand right next to the light, I pushed the button to find old Chica crawling through the vent.

I blocked out her view of Kyell, if she could even see him from inside the passageway. "Nothing here," I tell her, hoping this would work. I've already had enough ideas in the past three nights that somehow worked, but if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that I'm not taking off my mask ever again it is actually called for.

Old Chica began to crawl backward through the vent to the party room. That idea did work, but I hadn't the slightest idea on where she was going now.

"Oh, it's you," says Kyell from behind. He had just now looked up from the tablet. "Up so early?"

"Stopping you from dying, if anything," I reply. "Using lights more often than normal, are you?"

Kyell just shrugged. "I want to see things better. It helps me survive the nights. By the way, what's with your jaw?"

"Little mishap when I took off my mask off last night."

He nodded. "Ah. Yeah, don't do that again."

"Don't worry. I won't."

Freddy popped up in the office, giving both of us a good scare from his sudden appearance. "Sorry," he says. "I left as soon as I heard Foxy singing from Parts & Service."

"But you see, the thing is, he's already run down to my office once tonight. Able to explain why that happened?" says Kyell.

I exchanged glances with Freddy. From Foxy's behavior last night, it was clear that he was trying to get out of Parts & Service for another run down to visit Kyell. "No, I don't exactly know why he was doing that," I lie.

More footsteps, fast-paced, growing louder and louder. Kyell flipped on the mask and hid under the desk. Foxy crashed into the back wall—again! Before thirty minutes have even passed, Foxy has already run down to the office twice! He stood up slowly, mumbling more words as he left. "Endoskeleton… suit… the… of… cr—," I pick up from him.

"This night is going to be hell," says Freddy as his counterpart's laugh bounced around in the building. Old Bonnie suddenly appeared in the office, staring down at Kyell. Once again, the only sounds he produced was an incomprehensible series of beeps, clicks, and static.

"Tell me about it," whispers Kyell, holding the mask on his face.

He waited for old Bonnie to leave before he picked up the tablet again. As soon as the screen turned on, he started to take note of where everyone was. Old Freddy was in one of the party rooms. Old Bonnie was still patrolling the main hallway, and old Chica was now back in the vent. Foxy had just gotten back to Parts & Service.

Each minute ticked by. The tension only grew as Kyell continued to flash lights everywhere. The old generation animatronics were wandering around the main hallway, and sometimes one would go to the dining area before immediately turning back.

Chica joined us around 2:00, sneaking in through the left vent. Freddy left the office to patrol the halls.

Foxy crashed into the wall again for what I swore was the millionth time tonight. Every time those loud footsteps came zooming down the hallway, I swore to myself that it would be the last time he would run down tonight. I was wrong every time. It amazed me how Foxy was still in his current state after all of his runs.

Old Bonnie passed by the office, his silhouette barely appearing before he disappeared back into the hallway. Old Freddy's laugh once again resonated throughout the building, growing closer and closer by the moment.

I was doing nothing. Literally. All I was doing was standing there, being a second set of eyes for Kyell.

"Watch the entrances," I tell Chica, heading out into the hallway. Old Freddy's eyes glowed in the dark hallway, giving away his position near the party room that led to the left vent.

Foxy barely missed me by inches as he ran down again. How times is this? I lost count before the first hour of the night even passed, and now the time is past 3:00. "Is that kid malfunctioning again?" I mumble.

Old Bonnie was wandering around Parts & Service, limping as he walked in circles that varied in size. Old Chica was in one of the main hallway's side rooms, peeking out of the doorway.

Old Freddy laughed again. He's in the left vent. Hopefully, Chica would keep that in mind and keep a close eye on that entrance. From my spot at the end of the hallway, there was no way I would be able to arrive in the office in time if old Freddy managed to enter the office.

I reached Parts & Service. Foxy was peeking out of the slightly open door, his yellow eyes observing me carefully. I thought back to what old Freddy had done last night to stop Foxy from trying to get out. He had deactivated him, obviously, but I knew that if I tried the same thing, Foxy could potentially bite my hand off.

"Stinkin' endos without their suits on," he mumbles. "Duh duh dum dum dum, du dum dum dum. Duh duh dum dum diddly diddly dum. Dum dum diddly dum diddly dum dum dum dum—,"

I left, heading back down the hallway toward old Freddy. "See you around," I whisper to Foxy, although I highly doubted he could even hear my voice over the buzzing of the lights.

"Does them no good to not have a suit on," Foxy continues to mumble, his voice fading as the distance between us grew.

The clock continued ticking. Time felt twice as slow. After what felt like another two or three hours, I revisited Kyell and checked the clock. It said it was still 4:41. Old Freddy would not stop laughing, and every times Kyell took the mask off his face, he would check both the hallway and left vent lights before going to the cameras. Very frequently, too, as he would only check one or two rooms before hearing old Freddy's laugh, causing him to flip down the camera. Whenever he found him in the vent, he flipped down the mask and patiently waited for him to leave.

Kyell grabbed the phone and pulled it up to his ear. "Nothing. Just buzzing," he says, placing it back down on the desk. He shined his flashlight down the hallway and ducked under the desk when he saw Foxy running down. I noticed that Foxy was running down a lot less now for the second half of the night, which felt odd.

Once the room was clear again, I pressed the left vent light to see old Freddy. Chica pressed the right vent light to find her counterpart, while at the same time Kyell was shining a light down the hallway, watching Freddy chase old Bonnie.

Kyell flipped the mask down, and I signaled to Freddy, gesturing for him to come over to the office. He saw what I wanted him to do, and completely lost all focus on my counterpart, heading toward the office.

A click sounded from Kyell's flashlight. Kyell flipped up the tablet to see that it was still working—it still gave him what it could pick up, but none of the lights in the building were on. I pressed the door light again. Nothing worked. Only the lights in the office were still alive at the moment, and those didn't allow us to see even five feet outside the room.

A music box played. Outside, I could barely see old Freddy, as well as hear several footsteps from outside. The office went dark—something knocked out the light.

The jingle continued. Old Freddy entered the office, waiting for the perfect time to strike. I could tell from what I could hear.

The music ended suddenly. Silence overtook the entire pizzeria. Come on! When is that clock going to strike 6:00? From how long we've been here, it felt like it should be 6:15 by now!

Old Freddy laughed again, laughing the lowest laugh he could possibly manage. It was extremely close, too. Kyell's breathing could be heard inside the office, which told me that nothing has happened yet. But from where old Freddy's laugh had come from, Kyell was probably about four steps away from having an invisible force drag him to Parts & Service.

All of a sudden, the lights came back on. The clock struck six. The office was now empty of all old generation animatronics. Kyell stared into blank space, clutching the side of a chair. His hands were turning white, and he held his breath.

The beeping of his watch finally reached him. He exhaled and breathed heavily through his mouth. He relaxed, hands returning to their normal color. He shook his head and blinked several times. "I will quit after tomorrow."


	8. Chapter 8

I came back onto the stage, where Freddy and Chica were both waiting. I tested the fixed jaw, glad that they finally took care of it.

We had told Heston that I had fallen off the show stage and landed the wrong way one night. He was quite disappointed that such a dumb little thing could break a jaw, but these costumes are quite delicate. Before 8:00, I was already backstage, and now I’m already finished.

“Well, that was easy,” says Freddy. “Did they really have to do much to get it fixed? You were back there for less than an hour.”

I shook my head. “No, they didn’t really do too much. They just had to tamper with the wires in the mask a bit, and that’s all I remember them doing.”

He nodded. “Well, it’s Friday. Typical Fridays. Always crowded. I’m glad you got that fixed because I can expect these next three days to be the busiest for this place. Opening weekend.”

I looked out toward kid’s cove. The engineers had removed new Foxy for the moment, but I was sure the animatronic would be back there in time. They had designed the cove especially for toddlers.

The day went by, and as Freddy had predicted, it was indeed a busier day than usual. The crowd was larger than the typical day, and we had to participate in more parties than usual. I didn’t exactly see why they wouldn’t put the party rooms into effect yet, but it was possible that they were still working out the kinks—they wanted everything to be perfect before they open it up.

The night drew closer and closer. If things kept working the way they were, night five would be the toughest night for Kyell to handle. Then he can quit and they will hire a new guard for slaughter.

When Mike Schmidt left, I headed down to the office. The lights in the hallways and party rooms were still on, but inside the office, only one small light illuminated the entire room. It was extremely dark due to someone killing the bulbs earlier.

Final checks swept through the pizzeria, and I returned to the show stage for the moment. Kyell headed down to the office, mumbling several words under his breath. He was hunched over, his feet flopping on the carpet, and soon, the tile with every step.

The last of the crew finally checked out around 11:50. A few minutes later, the lights went out, just like always. Right away, all three of us started to move toward the office, trying to get there before anyone else. This night would be Kyell’s last and toughest night yet.

Kyell flashed several lights in the hallways. Knocking over several chairs and a table on the way, I stumbled over to the main hallway and was soon joined by the other two. Old Bonnie was in the doorway. We watched him move down the main hallway toward the office.

We continued down the main hallway. When Kyell used his flashlight, I could barely make out the giant shadow of a fox on the wall. However, it wasn’t moving. Rather, it seemed to hold itself in place.

Turning the corner, I found Foxy watching Kyell down the long hallway. The office itself was nearly pitch black, the only source of light being that one bulb. The tiny blue light was what separated Kyell from that suit in Parts & Service and the front door.

I split from the others. While Freddy decided to take the hallway, I opted for the party rooms on the right side of the office while Chica used the two rooms on the left side of the office.

Looking out, I watched as Foxy retreated back into Parts & Service without running down to check on Kyell first. Huh. He must be all worn out from his many runs last night. Old Bonnie entered the adjacent party room from me. Old Freddy had taken Foxy’s old spot, staring down the hallway toward Kyell.

My ears perked up at the sound of breaking glass right behind me. I was so busy watching the others that I had no idea that old Chica had snuck in behind me. As usual, her jaw was wide open, showing off both misaligned sets of teeth. She had knocked over a glass from one of the tables behind me. The camera in the room whirred as I turned around to face her.

Then she left. She strolled out the doorway, and I watched as she continued down the hall, lights continuing to flicker on and off. She entered the adjacent party room, the one that led to the left vent. I glanced back at the camera in the room to find that it had gone inactive, and followed her closely.

Along the way, I saw that Foxy had just left Parts & Service for his first run down to the office. He zoomed straight past me, and I watched as he crashed into the back wall of the office. As expected, he then darted back toward home at Parts & Service.

From the other side, something entered the vent. The sound had become unmistakable, too familiar that it now alarmed us whenever we heard it. I watched the left vent party room and saw Chica glance inside. She reached into the vent and seemed to grab something. She began to pull it out of the vent, but I hadn’t time to watch with old Chica about to enter the right vent. All I caught sight of was something lavender before I turned toward the other party room.

Too late! Old Chica was already inside the office, staring down at Kyell. I didn’t hear her sneaking through the vent, and I couldn’t see her going in through the main entrance. I had blanked out as I was watching something that Chica already had covered, and now there was the danger of old Chica killing Kyell.

But Kyell had reacted fast and flipped on the mask immediately. The light in the office began to flicker, and old Chica disappeared in a matter of seconds. Trying to predict where she went involved much more guessing than reasoning with the lack of a light, so much more that I basically gave up on trying to find her until she would appear again.

Kyell kept using his flashlight. I wasn’t used to the reduced light either, but he was to conserve his flashlight’s battery if he really wants to get out of this building again.

Taking the vent, I entered the office. It allowed me to make sure that nothing else was in the vent for any reason, and I didn’t need to take the risk of having someone slam into me.

I snuck in. Kyell was still using his flashlight erratically, shining it not only down the hallway, but down the vents as well, even though the vent’s lights would have been a much better option.

“What are you doing?” I ask, causing him to jolt in the middle of a motion.

He looked toward me. “Oh. It’s you. I’m trying to find everyone. I hate how I have barely any light for the night.”

I took the flashlight from him and set it down on the desk. “Well, you’re going to have to save it because this thing’s not going to last the entire night.”

He picked it up. “Well, I’m not going to know where everyone is, and I won’t know if someone’s coming or not.”

Well, is someone acting like a novice right now! “I thought you knew to use the vent lights and listen for everyone’s movements! Sure, you’re going to have to know specifically who out of the seven of us is moving, but that’s what the vent lights are for! Only use the thing when you really have to, like if Foxy’s about to run down or if you don’t know who’s on the move.” I didn’t want to have to reteach everything to him. It seemed as if everything he learned in the past four nights just left him.

“I’m sorry,” he says, his voice now shaking. “I’m just a bit nervous, that’s what. Less light, quirky animatronics that become more difficult to keep away as the week progresses, it’s just tough to try to keep track of seven animatronics.”

“Well, really, four,” I say.

“Incoming!” I yell, pushing Kyell under the desk. He flipped on the mask and cradled his legs, rocking back and forth as he waited.

Foxy flew straight over me, both of his arms reaching down. His hook caught my left ear, and it disoriented me so much that I didn’t even know I had gone down until I was already down. Then, as usual, Foxy crashed into the wall—a bit lower than usual, but nothing really strange—and left the room. As always, he was mumbling some words under what is now a nearly broken voice box.

Beeps. Clicks. Static. Old Bonnie appeared in the doorway and just left, heading back down the hallway.

“And those two are of the four that I speak of,” I say once Bonnie is out of sight. I stood up, brushing myself off.

Kyell used his flashlight to verify that everyone was gone. He then checked both vents using their respective lights. Nothing.

He checked his wristwatch. “2:34. I’m going to make it out of this night, whether it kills me or not. I’m going to finish this shift,” he says to no one in particular.

Old Freddy’s silhouette appeared in the hallway before disappearing back into the depths of the pizzeria. Another laugh. Kyell flipped on the mask for a moment before returning to the cameras.

As Kyell continued to cycle through the cameras again, old Freddy would just not stop laughing. It remained constant as he browsed the pizzeria, his pattern unknown. Kyell took note of him in one of the party rooms.

Something entered the vent. I checked both lights while Kyell was still occupied with the cameras. Nothing for now, but looking back at the tablet, I saw that he did flip to the left vent, finding old Bonnie back inside. He placed the tablet down and flashed his light down the hallway, revealing Foxy. He was preparing for a run down to the office. No surprise there.

Another hour passed, and old Bonnie had left the vent and is now wandering around the main hall. Foxy still hasn’t run down to the office since he caught my ear. I would look at it in the morning and see if it suffered any minor damage. Old Chica and old Freddy were both in the same party room—one that did not lead directly to a vent.

Foxy ran down for the second time tonight. I watched from Parts & Service, and from what I was able to see down the hallway, nothing had went wrong in the office.

“Endos!” yells Foxy. “Get yer’ suits on!”

He’s not an endoskeleton. I wanted to tell him, but what power do I have? His facial recognition has gone down the drain, and he really wouldn’t see the difference between a naked endoskeleton and a person.

I entered Parts & Service. Not the smartest idea, but I did so I could kill a bit more time. Kyell was fine. Last time I checked, both Freddy and Chica were just outside, so they could rush to help him should anyone ever sneak into the office through the vents.

The interior was lit up by a tiny light bulb on the ceiling. It left the corners of the room completely dark, and I could only see the outlines of all the spare parts scattered across the floor. The spare Fazbear suit was slumped up against the wall, completely limp as there was nothing—or no one—inside.

I turned toward the other side. What is that? It was slumped up against the wall like the suit, and it even sat in plain sight in one of the brightest parts of the room. Yet it was completely black. Its outline represented an old Freddy Fazbear costume, but other than that, it seemed to bear no resemblance to the character. There were only two white dots where the eyes would have been, staring off into blank space. It didn’t even seem real. Rather, it looked like some strange shadow projected by something, something that didn’t even exist.

I looked away, out back toward the hallway. Old Bonnie was headed toward the dining area. Nothing else seemed to be happening outside. No one was moving, or talking, or screaming.

Then I looked back at that wall. The thing was gone. Everything else was still in here—the parts, the real costume, even Foxy. But it seemed that the strange shadow has gone back into the slums of the room, retreated to one of the pitch black corners.

Foxy sprung to life again and entered the main hallway. He stared down the corridor, watching the office.

I left Parts & Service. That place was weird—pretty much anything can happen in that room at this time, and among those strange happenings is the old generation of animatronics actually activating. I decided that the shadow-Freddy thing was the least of my worries for the night, as old Chica had gone into the party room. I listened as she snuck into the office through the left vent, and Kyell, who surely wasn’t ready for such an appearance, yelped and flipped on the mask.

But old Chica didn’t seem to leave the office. Rather, she continued to stare down at Kyell with no intent to leave. What’s going on? Shouldn’t she be fooled by the mask?

I continued to watch. Nothing happened. Everything seemed to be at a standstill as old Chica continued to stare down at Kyell like a statue.

Then with one step, she advanced upon him.


	9. Chapter 9

One action. One bad move was all it took for Kyell to fall into this whole mess of a pizzeria, this lame excuse for a safe place designed to bring joy to children. Well, by day it was safe, if nothing else, but he had the graveyard shift, the dangerous shift.

He was introduced to the true dangers of his job on his first night, but the second night seemed to be the worst night he has ever experienced. It had scarred him for his entire life.

Nights three and four were more or less the same as he began to get into the groove, knowing the movement patterns of all of the animatronics, with the exception of Foxy. He seemed to be just random for the entirety of the week.

But now this is his final night, and the true risk of taking the job is just now appearing. We all knew what the old generation was capable of. We all knew that it could happen at any moment, at any given time between the hours of 12 AM and 6 AM.

But nothing could prepare any of us three for such an incident like this. With old Chica trapping Kyell in one of the corners of the office, it was clear to everyone that the mask hadn't fooled her a single bit. Old Bonnie and old Freddy were both coming down the hallway, attracted by Kyell's sudden screams emanating from the office.

His voice alarmed everyone in the building. Freddy, who was busy watching his counterpart, was suddenly in the office. Chica, who was patrolling the left vent, couldn't see her counterpart from where she was. She started down that same vent when she heard Kyell.

But it was my fault that old Chica had succeeded in reaching the office. It was my job to patrol the area around the right side vent, and now it will most likely cost Kyell his sanity, if not his life.

He cowered in the corner, sheltering himself with his arms. I sprinted down to the office as quickly as I could, but before I could reach the office, Freddy had grabbed old Chica and pulled her away from Kyell.

She continued to struggle under Freddy's grasp. Freddy was struggling to hold her in place, to give Kyell a good window of time to do something. But he allowed it to pass—he simply just sat there, completely frozen in the corner.

Ugh. Kyell seemed to show no sign of movement. He was frozen in place, as this was the worst thing he's been through since his second night. Foxy's fifteen plus runs down to the office last night couldn't top the events of night two, as Kyell seemed to show no signs of anxiety for a good portion of that night.

Freddy tried to restrain Chica by the arms. It was working, although he had to put a lot of effort into actually trying to dragon her out of the office. As far as shutting her off went, I had no idea where the switch might be, and trying to find out would be too risky. Having Freddy look for it would allow old Chica to escape his grasp and take Kyell to Parts & Service, and having someone else look for it while Freddy holds her still would leave one of the other old animatronics open to close in on Kyell.

I snuck into the room and grabbed Kyell by the arm. He stared at me with a frightened expression as I dragged him to his spot under the desk. He went limp once I sat him up. Still holding his arm, I checked the wristwatch that was attached to it.

"You're going to be fine," I say. "Breathe. Calm down. It's 4:55. You have thirty-nine hundred seconds left in your shift. Then you can run off to the thing that makes you happiest and forget everything that went down here concerning you and these animatronics. Okay?" I nodded in front of him fiercely.

Something slid across the top of the desk and fell on the floor. I saw that it was an endoskeleton hand. The fingers twitched before going limp on the tile.

I looked toward the entrance to the office, which was where this struggle between Freddy and old Chica had gone. She attempted to break free from Freddy's grasp using only her left hand. I watched as out of frustration, Freddy ripped off old Chica's other hand, pulling out several wires along with it. He tossed the now useless thing down the hallway. It slid down the corridor, and I listened until it stopped, bumping into a wall.

Glancing at where old Chica's hands used to be, there were now two small, useless stumps. A tiny wire was visible on one side.

Freddy continued to drag her back down the hallway. She continued to struggle, but the lack of hands had sealed the deal. She is going back to Parts & Service now, no matter what might happen.

Kyell's wristwatch hit 5:00. He breathed heavily, and for a moment cringed. He looked like he could puke at any given moment now, so I cleared the area, keeping watch from near the left vent. His flashlight was still in the corner.

I checked the left vent with its light. There was nothing there, so I decided to take the flashlight in hand and shine it down the hallway for a split second.

Foxy flew over my head again. When Kyell noticed him in the office, he flipped on the mask, but not before Foxy was able to get up and start his way back toward Parts & Service.

Foxy twitched several times as he continued to stare at Kyell. Kyell's chest didn't move—he was holding his breath. His fear was contagious, and apprehensively, I began to approach the pirate fox.

Then he began to saunter off down the hallway. How anticlimactic. His head was drooping as he faded out into the darkness of the hallway. Parts & Service it is, then.

The lights in the building flickered a bit. The single bulb that lit up the office was about to die, its light fading. It wasn't noticeable, but the difference between the beginning of the night and now was huge. At this point, we could barely see the entrance to the hallway.

Kyell relied completely on his flashlight. He was now acting as if the light in the room had already gone out. He held the left vent light down, finding old Bonnie approaching. He was sweating, and tears continued to roll down his cheeks as his anxiety continued to reach out for him.

Freddy returned. "Well, she should be taken care of for the night," he says, throwing old Chica's left hand onto the desk. He picked up the tablet and opened it, finding his counterpart in the far left party room.

I ripped the fan on the table from its outlet and tossed it into the left vent to try to stall old Bonnie and buy Kyell a bit more time to recover.

Kyell gasped suddenly. He shook his head, snatched the tablet from Freddy, and closed it. He then proceeded to flip the mask back down over his face.

"What?" I ask.

He blinked several times, shaking his head even more. He even went as far as hitting himself a few times. "Nothing. All is fine," he says, taking the mask off.

I highly doubted it, but there was nothing to prove something was wrong. Maybe he was just imagining things. Hallucinating, that's what. Going insane after five full nights with the chance of death increasing with every second.

6:00 AM drew nearer and nearer and nearer, and the office grew darker, and darker, and darker. Around 5:20, the lack of any light in the office forced Kyell to keep his flashlight on constantly, but whether or not it could another last forty minutes was a question that loomed over everyone's heads. Less than ten minutes later, the light bulb died, and it plunged to the floor, breaking upon impact.

Now the flashlight was the last thing that Kyell had left. It was the only source of light for the rest of the night. I tried out one of the vent lights. It clicked, and the light came on, but in a few seconds it also died. I tried the light again. Nothing.

The same thing happened with the other vent light. Freddy tried it out, but the light wouldn't work after a few seconds.

"Everyone's here?" asks Freddy. Now Kyell's flashlight began to grow dimmer.

Kyell flashed his light around the room. He opened the tablet, and it provided a tiny bit of light, but not enough to be put to use.

I listened for footsteps. I listened as something crawled through the vents, and I heard some clicking down the hallway, closing in on the office.

Kyell used the last bit of his flashlight to look down the hallway. Peering down the corridor for what could be the last time tonight, I spotted something at the very end of the passage. It didn't look real—the apparition seemed to be faded out, and there was nothing but a head. The eyes were black.

I concluded that it was another hallucination. There's nothing to worry about—they aren't real, right? There's no way such a thing as a random floating yellow ghost head could pose any threat against all of us.

Kyell aimed the light down one of the vents, the one with the fan in it, and found nothing. Then he lit up the hallway again, and there was nothing there. He checked his wristwatch again. "5:50!" he exclaims, growing anxious to see how this night will turn out. "I'm really hoping my flashlight can last another ten minutes."

Another minute passed, and the flashlight's battery began to die off, taking Kyell's confidence with it. As the office continued to darken gradually, so did his emotions. Tears were once again rolling down his cheeks. His face and neck were soaked with sweat from both the lack of a fan in the middle of summer and his stress.

He wiped some of the sweat off with his sleeve, checking his wristwatch every few seconds. "Come on! Let it be 6:00 already!" he says, his voice almost rising to a shout. It echoed throughout the corridors.

Then Kyell's flashlight finally died. Nothing was visible. Everything was just a sea of blackness as I tried to find my way through the office.

Old Freddy laughed, and such a deep voice was followed by a short series of footsteps. Kyell whimpered in fear, probably under the desk again.

Everyone sat in complete silence. Time seemed to freeze in place. Kyell stopped breathing. All sounds of footsteps, all ambient sounds had silenced themselves, putting the entire building to rest.

Then I felt myself falling into blank space. I swam in the void of darkness looking for a way out of this mess. Yet no matter how much I flailed my limbs, I caught nothing but thin air, and felt nothing but the sensation of free falling into oblivion.

* * *

I was in a room. What I saw in front of me was no longer darkness, no longer the office. Rather, it was a different room. I glanced to my left, seeing a small doorway with two buttons on the side. The top one, which was red, was labeled 'DOOR' and the white one on the bottom said 'LIGHT'. Then I glanced to my right, seeing the same two buttons, but the door was closed. Looking behind me, I saw a pink cupcake set neatly on top of a monitor. It had two huge eyes, both of them staring at a single point in the office.

I turned to what it faced. What I saw there was a naked endoskeleton looking at a device of some sorts. It breathed heavily, which I thought was weird because robots don't pant like that.

It began to lower its tablet, and right away, I pounced on him. It screamed—I grabbed the legs and began to drag it out of the office, through the narrow hallway. It required some serious clothing. Fortunately for it, I knew exactly where to take it.

That place was backstage, where all of the spare parts and costumes were. There was an empty Freddy Fazbear suit in there that should do the trick with this one.

As it continued to struggle beneath my grasp, I used huge lavender paws to silence it. It was becoming obnoxious to have to listen to it, saying something about being a person or something. It didn't fool me—this was obviously an endoskeleton without its costume on.

I opened the door to the back room and tossed it in. Then I slammed the door shut and locked it so it couldn't escape. When it turned around, it backed away from me right into the wall.

I looked around the room for the spare costume and found it propped up against the wall. The naked endoskeleton was now clawing at the door, pleading to leave the room. Of course, I paid no attention to it as I prepared the suit, seeing the agglomeration of wires and crossbars in the costume.

Mask first. I disconnected it from the costume and plopped it down on the naked endoskeleton's head, covering it completely before I readjusted it to where the eyes were visible. Then I went on and took heed to the rest of the body, starting with the legs, then the torso. In the middle of it, the naked endoskeleton stopped moving.

It sat down on the table. I beheld my finished masterpiece, this completed work of keeping the rules of the restaurant intact. Pride took over as I continued to observe it. One of the eyes had popped out, and the other was rolling around in its socket, but that was something that could be easily fixed.

The clock outside struck six, and the morning bells rung. As I continued to stare at it, my vision flickered. What I saw as an endoskeleton inside that suit was no longer an endoskeleton. Rather, what I found in front of me was a Freddy Fazbear costume with a human body inside. Blood began to pour out of the costume around the eyes and the mouth, making a complete mess of a perfectly good suit.

But that was the least of my concerns. There was a human body inside that suit! I grabbed the back of the neck, disconnecting the mask from the body. I ripped it off, threw it onto a shelf, and proceeded to strip it from the rest of the suit.

When the entire body was uncovered, I found blood. Just a huge pool of blood surrounded the body that laid limp on the floor. One eye hung by its stem, just hovering over the floor.

I dropped to my knees. "I did this," I say to myself, reaching behind my neck. I disconnected the mask from the body and stared at it. "You did this…"

* * *

Something pulled me back to reality. My eyes widened, and I shot myself straight backward, crashing right into a wall. I slid down the surface back to the ground. Taking a look at myself, I noticed my hands were blue again, no longer lavender paws.

I was back in the office. All of the lights in the hallways were on, meaning it must now be morning. A flashlight rolled along the ground toward me. Curiously, I picked it up and switched it on. It responded with nothing but a click.

"Useless thing," I mutter, throwing it across the office into an endoskeleton hand.

Then I realized something was off. Kyell was missing!

Oh wait. It's morning already. That means he should have left by now. Judging from how he was acting last night, it was quite possible that he just left his flashlight and burst out of the building right when his watch turned to 6:00 AM.

Getting up, I left the office. I shook my head clear of whatever just went through me. That was something completely foreign to me. I blinked several times to keep trying to empty it out of my head.

Out of habit, I decided to check Parts & Service. The lights inside were all turned on, providing a clear view of everything inside. There were no shadows in the room, nothing strange. Just the four old generation animatronics along with everything else that should be inside.

Then there was the empty Freddy Fazbear suit. I turned toward where I remembered it was, but it wasn't there. Rather, it was on the other side of the room, sitting against the wall.

I could have broken down right there if I knew that this was real. The entire night was a fight between reality and imagination, and I still didn't trust what I was seeing.

But it was real—it was all real. I touched it, and it moved. That was enough to prove to me that this was real.

Looking up at the face, I saw a bit of blood leaking out of the mouth, hinting to me that something was inside the suit. I observed every detail around the mouth area closely, but found nothing. Then I moved on to the eyes.

The right eye hung from a stem.


	10. Chapter 10

Dropping to my knees, I began to shake my head. "No, no, no…" I mutter to myself. "Please tell me this isn't real. Please, someone just tell me something's damaged and causing me to see this!"

But no answer came. The suit just sat there. Even after I looked away, it was still there when I looked back at it. I pulled its arm, and the disgusting sloshing of flesh inside the costume reached my ears. The arm moved when I applied any force to it.

I grabbed Foxy and removed the hook from his hand. Heading back over to the Freddy Fazbear costume, I began to carve several marks in the wall above it.

KYELL MINSKY  
NIGHT OF 7/31-8/01, '09

Once I had finished the final line of the text, I gritted my teeth. Out of rage, I tossed the hook across the room as hard as I could. It crashed to the floor, leaving a dent in the wall on the other side of the room. What went wrong last night that cost him?

Maybe it was me. But I had tried with everything I had, tried out every idea that popped into my head at the right moment. We've helped him escape death so many times, so what went wrong this time? Was it the lack of light, or the fact that I blacked out? It left me thinking for a while.

Sometime later, I left. With my head down and ears drooping, I just left the Parts & Service room alone. On my way out, some people on the clean-up crew rushed by me, straight into the same room.

_Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person's report will be filed within ninety days, or as soon as property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the walls have been replaced…_

Once I reached the show stage again, I found both Freddy and Chica staring at me with worried expressions. They must feel the same pain from losing him as I did. "Where have you been?" asks Freddy.

I blinked several times. "Something knocked me out in the office. Nothing, really. I just woke up."

I turned away. As I began to wander off the stage, Freddy grabbed my shoulder. "Look. I know how you must feel," he says. "It's hard that he's gone, but you're only looking at a single point. He was going to leave anyway after that night."

"But he didn't make it out alive," I reply. "Were we ever trying to keep him in here? To make him work more weeks? I don't see why anyone would want to even work more than a night, knowing what was here. Our goal was to get him out of this pizzeria in one piece, not make him the best night guard to have ever existed. And look at what happened! Now he's probably never going to be able to leave this building again."

I began to storm off, but Freddy grabbed me again. "Something's been bothering you, right? I noticed you spent an awful lot of time in Parts & Service last night, not to mention you keep shaking your head like you're trying to clear something from your memory."

"I'm fine," I retort, pulling my shoulder back. With my head down, I headed back down the main hallway to see the clean-up crew hauling the suit out of Parts & Service. They waved at me, so naturally, I waved back, and I headed down the hallway toward the office.

Mike Schmidt was there. He spotted me and started down the hallway to send me back to the stage. "Away with you! Bonnie, you're not supposed to be here right now! We've got—,"

"A dead guard in a suit?" I interrupt. "Mike, you should be well aware that none of us did it."

"Did I say that?"

"No, but it's natural for people to blame us if one, they know that the death of a night guard is always to an animatronic stuffing them in a suit, and two, they know we're left on at night."

Mike glared at me. "Okay. I admit it. I was going to blame you guys for that, but as you are eh… updated, I should say, with the latest, I can safely assume it wasn't any of you three. Then who was it?"

"One of those older ones in Parts & Service. It would explain why that's the spot where a night guard ends up if they're caught. You're lucky no one dragged you backstage fourteen years ago."

"An older one? Those are supposed to be deactivated. Plus, I'm— Hey! How did you know what my occupation was fourteen years ago?"

I stood in silence. "Uh… I just know."

The bell rung. It was now 9:00.

"Look. If you want to talk to me, then do it either before or after the doors close," says Mike. "Not during hours while everyone's looking for you. Now just go back to the show stage, and we'll talk about this tomorrow if you desire. I don't blame you guys, but until then, if people find out, they'll think it's you."

I grunted. "Fine."

It was a Saturday. Weekend days are so predictable. They're always the busiest parts of the week to the point where we pretty much had no breaks throughout the entire day. We were always moving around or performing, or taking our part in a birthday, and boy were there a lot of them. We weren't given any time to hang out with the kids in one party. As soon as we were finished singing Happy Birthday, we only had a few minutes until we had to move on to the next one.

"They really need to start putting those party rooms into effect, like, now," says Chica. "I can barely move around with this many parties going on at once!"

"I can expect them to do that soon. Maybe when they add new Foxy," replies Freddy. I had opted to remain silent, as I still haven't and probably never will get over Kyell's death.

The rest of the day continued to tick by with nothing special occurring. At some point during the day when the doors were about to close, I saw clean-up crew members scrambling around the hallway again. They were hauling an empty Freddy Fazbear suit into the back room for the next guard set to work here.

As far as I knew, the pizzeria had no new night guard as of yet, so the building would be empty for tonight with no one watching. Heston, I knew, would be unhappy about this. I was unsure about whether or not the old generation would be active tonight, or if they would hibernate until the company found someone else to work the night shift.

Either way, the lights still went out when the clock struck twelve. No noise came from the hallway or Parts & Service. Knowing the correlation between the old generation's activity and the day of the week, I thought they would be all over the place tonight. I was probably wrong, or my theory of them being inactive without a night guard was probably correct. After all, the place was completely silent, and it may be possible that noise is what causes them to move around at night.

We all just sat there in silence. There was no point in moving around if there was nothing to do for the night. There came nothing, just the buzzing of some of the lights and the tapping of rain on the glass from outside.

Then the Sunday morning alarm rang. As the clock struck 6:00, the lights all came back on. Nobody moved yet, as no one was even inside the building yet. It continued to rain a bit outside, but it wasn't much. I was expecting it to clear by this afternoon.

Mr. Heston was the first to enter the pizzeria. Mike Schmidt followed closely, but he went to the office right upon entering. Then a group of engineers and mechanics entered, hauling something on their shoulders into the building. They set it down in the cove carefully, like something delicate was in there and it wasn't wrapped properly.

"You sure we're good to test this one before the doors open?" one of them asks.

Mr. Heston joined them at the cove. "I know that Foxy is always a twitchy character, new or not. I think this one is going to need quite a bit of testing, even if people begin pouring in before it's finished."

But it is Sunday, which means the doors open a bit later today. It wasn't by much, but maybe a good one hour of extra time before the doors open would give us some time to rest, especially if we're going to work a night in which the animatronics are tougher than they were on Kyell's last night.

I snuck behind the front desk and into Mr. Heston's office. On the desk sat papers holding information on all of the animatronics to have ever worked in the pizzeria. I grabbed the bundle of papers and skimmed through them, skipping to the animatronics. There were eight of them—four for the old generation and four for the current one.

I skipped over the old generation profiles and decided to read off the new ones, starting with myself.

TOY BONNIE/BONNIE 2.0  
KNOWN AS: Bonnie the Bunny  
HEIGHT: 7'1" (no ears), 7'8" (with ears)  
GENDER: Male  
MAIN COLOR: Light blue  
OTHER INFO.: The guitarist in Fazbear's band and the tallest in the group, this lovable character, though obvious at times, makes for the best motivational speaker in the group.

What did I not already know about myself? I already knew everything that was on this sheet. There was a picture of me on stage at the bottom, flashing a thumbs up—no surprise there. I decided to read Freddy's and Chica's.

TOY FREDDY/FREDDY 2.0  
KNOWN AS: Freddy Fazbear  
HEIGHT: 7'1"  
GENDER: Male  
MAIN COLOR: Brown  
OTHER INFO.: The leader of his band and taking on the role of lead singer, the restaurant's main mascot is of highest quality anyone can find, though he is quite careful about most things and is one to complain.

TOY CHICA/CHICA 2.0  
KNOWN AS: Chica the Chick  
HEIGHT: 6'11"  
GENDER: Female  
MAIN COLOR: Yellow  
OTHER INFO.: She's the backup singer in the band, and although she may be the shortest in stature among all of the restaurant's mascots, the excitement she portrays is definitely not so, reaching distances.

Before I flipped to the last piece of paper, I made sure no one was approaching. I peeked outside, making sure Heston, Freddy, Chica, and all janitors and engineers were occupied with something else.

They were, so I sat back down inside the office and flipped the papers to the new animatronic's page.

TOY FOXY/FOXY 2.0  
KNOWN AS: Foxy the Pirate Fox  
HEIGHT: 7'0"  
GENDER: Unknown  
MAIN COLOR: Rose pink  
OTHER INFO.:

I heard something going on outside and concluded that it must be the engineers and Heston testing out the new Foxy character. I neatly restacked the papers in the order I found them in and placed them on the desk.

Pretty much everything on those papers was information I already knew, save for the information on 'Toy Foxy' or the new Foxy the Pirate Fox. Unknown gender? Rose pink redesign? Where do people come up with ideas like this? And there was no additional information on the character.

The pizzeria was filled with the many noises the new Foxy character made when the engineers interacted with him/her. Many of us covered our ears one time when he/she accidentally let out an ear-piercing screech, of which the engineers were able to fix in a matter of minutes.

Once everyone was satisfied with how the new Foxy was working, they decided that we were set to introduce him/her today.

"Today?" exclaims Freddy as I walk back and forth backstage. "They announce it all of a sudden? No warnings or anything? Plus, I'm a bit worried about you being out there with all the stuff going on with Kyell and…"

I sighed. "Look, I'm trying not to think about it right now. I don't want to be reminded. Plus, we all knew it was coming, judging from how close that cove was to being completed. Come on! All we have to do is introduce the new Foxy to the kids, then he/she can go back to the cove and hang with them. Should be easy enough. Not too much time waiting."

I was right, for the most part. I had gotten the 'no waiting' part completely wrong. When the doors opened and all of the families came pouring in for the day, we had to wait for about three hours until they decided to introduce Foxy to the family. In the meantime, they had him/her wait backstage.

When the time to introduce him/her to the kids came, the curtains closed. Heston came up to the stage. "Let's pull it out now," he says.

Freddy grabbed the new Foxy from backstage and pulled him/her out to the curtains. He/she shook her head, objecting to this decision.

"Not sure if I wanna do this," he/she says to Freddy. "Starting to have second thoughts. Not so sure. Was excited at first. Now feelin' a bit nervous."

"Oh, come on!" exclaims Freddy. "You'll be fine. Just let us handle it, and you'll be on your way home to the cove in no time!"

Foxy remained silent and stood at the center of the stage. He/she faced the curtain, waiting to see the crowd of kids outside wondering what is going on. To see the curtains close was always a strange sight at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza—they almost always stay open.

Freddy grabbed his microphone and pushed through the curtains. Chica and I followed closely. "Boys and girls," his voice rings from the speakers, "we have a very special announcement to make. Please welcome to the family, our new and improved Foxy the Pirate Fox!"

The curtains unrolled, revealing Foxy. He/she instantly became the center of attention, the kids staring up at him/her eagerly. His/her pink face paint glimmered in the spotlight.

"Foxy," continues Freddy, "will be given his own separate room in the restaurant, all to himself. Over there, in the back," he pointed toward kid's cove, "will be her room in the restaurant, called 'Kid's Cove'!"

On the inside, I shuddered. Freddy's inconclusiveness on new Foxy's gender sounded quite unsettling. Somehow, as I observed the sea of children, it seemed that they did not notice Freddy's error.

Freddy guided Foxy back through the pizzeria to the kid's cove on the other side. The curtains remained open, like always, but we were left to roam around the pizzeria. Some employees were sent to the cove in order to make sure the room didn't get too crowded, setting a ten minute time limit for each group that went in to meet the new animatronic.

A kid tugged at my arm. "Bonnie!"

I turned around to see a young girl, around the age of seven. She held a Bonnie plush in her hand. "Hello!" I greet her. "Now, what might your name be?" I kneeled down for a talk.

"Alice! I just got to meet Foxy in the cove!" she squeals.

"Well, Alice," I start. "What do you think of the new family member, Foxy?"

She held her smile on her face. "I think she's cute. Perfect in the way she is, but she does seem to stray away from the older kids."

It was obvious she referred to the new character as a guy, yet some of the kids nearby talking about the character referred to it as a 'he'. I guess this new one's gender will always remain unknown and disputed.

"One picture? Please?" she says, emphasizing on the word 'please'.

Well, she did say 'please', so how can I refuse? This one was adorable. I smiled at her and nodded.

She began to drag me over to the picture booth. Pulling me behind the curtains in the game room, she inserted a token into a slot. I kneeled down so the camera could focus on both of us with her on my right. She held her plush in the air with her right hand, and I held a thumbs up in the air with my left hand.

One flash. After hearing the click, I relaxed, and Alice's eyes fluttered over to the screen for the outcome. She laughed and ran off to a different portion of the restaurant once she was satisfied.

I came out shortly after. Freddy was waiting for me outside. He wasn't the happiest the bear could be. The smile on my face dissipated.

"They found a new guard."

**END OF PART 1**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will only be doing author's notes at the beginning/end of whole parts.
> 
> Special thanks to: magneta, JustARandomCommenter, SneezySoul (TeRmInAlLyCaPrIcIioUs), FortunaDraken, Cassandra Danton, and Mohammed!
> 
> As far as life is going, it's okay. Haven't been too busy lately, and Thanksgiving break is coming up. (Yay! More updates!)
> 
> For those who don't know, I have already made the decision not to include Balloon Boy or The Puppet/Marionette (whatever you want to call it) in this story. Also, The Mangle's gender will always remain contested and undecided for me until it is confirmed, though I won't begin using it if the gender is confirmed before I finish the story.
> 
> Anyway, expect another update by Thursday or Friday!


	11. Chapter 11

**PART 2: A GUARD**

The sun sank below the horizon. The new guard doesn't start until tomorrow night, so tonight would be another night given up for rest.

Foxy has interacted quite well with the kids today, but when I checked up on him/her after the employees left the cove, he/she looked exhausted. "Toddlers," he/she says, "can't keep hands to themselves. Crowds too big. Old kids scary."

"That's because today was your opening day. Give it some time. Just rest for now. It'll get better as you go," I say.

Heading back over to the show stage, we allowed final checks to sweep through the building. The last of the employees left, and as usual, the lights went out.

Once again, no clattering came from Parts & Service. No one moved an inch. None of the old animatronics left the room—there was no guard to hunt tonight.

Look at us, wasting our time. We could be out finding out more on why the old animatronics behave the way they do at night. We could be looking for reasons why everything that happens at night only happens at night. We could be out accomplishing something, finding reasons why I had that blackout on Kyell's fifth night, why I knew that Mike had worked here fourteen years ago, and why ghost-like things are appearing in the building after hours.

It just annoyed me. I knew that the company would do anything to keep this information away from the officials, and if it did happen to slip out, why should they believe it? Who would ever believe that ghosts roam a building at night? This was practically insoluble!

Waiting out the entire night was the first step. Nothing was going to happen tonight—nothing would happen until the new guard comes in tomorrow night, and even if that person comes in at all, who's to say he or she will side with us?

Still, we all waited for morning to come. It was a long night, but we managed to hold out until the clock struck six. Once it did, all tension left the building, and it continued on its normal way, just like always.

Everyone began pouring into the building again, as they usually did. What else is different today, other than the fact that we have a new guard coming in tonight? Nothing would happen today—I already knew that. I would have to wait this day out before I could start doing anything concerning the older animatronics.

Before the doors opened to the public, I headed down to the office to find Mike Schmidt. "Hey," I say. "You want to have that little talk now?"

Mike sighed. "Sure, while there's still time."

I went on to explain everything that happened in the five nights that Kyell has worked in the pizzeria. I explained to him how every single animatronic worked, including both generations. I explained to him most of the techniques we used to fend off the old animatronics, and I explained to him what eventually lost Kyell his life.

He nodded. "Quite a mouthful," he says, pulling out a ballpoint pen and putting my words on paper. "I'll think about all this and see how it adds up. Maybe use it to help this new guard survive. Until then, off with you! Back to the stage before those doors open!"

I listened to him and left the office, heading back to the show stage. Along the way, I visited the cove to check up on Foxy.

Foxy was not excited for the day at all. He/she was still afraid of the kids, still a bit nervous to be in front of such a large crowd. His/her trepidation did not stop me from just simply telling him/her that he/she would be fine and that he/she just had to let a bit of time pass… again.

The entire day passed. During one of our breaks, they had to close down the cove momentarily due to something about the toddlers 'taking Foxy apart', but he/she was back in action in less than an hour. The employees just had to put the character back together, and he/she was ready to jump straight back into working, much to her dismay.

When the doors locked for the night, a new person came in, wearing a security jacket. It probably wasn't the same one that Kyell wore—that one was probably disposed of when they replaced the suit.

All three of us were backstage while Foxy was at the kid's cove, preparing for the night. Hopefully, the engineers have given him/her a proper night mode.

"Know anything about the new guard?" I ask Freddy. "I would at least like a name."

He shook his head. "I have nothing on him this time."

"Great," I mutter, taking my normal spot on the stage. "Look, there's something I have to find out."

Freddy just groaned. "You're going to talk about this now? Is this really the best time you can do this?"

I continued, ignoring his reluctant comment. "On the fifth night, I came across some weird thing in Parts & Service, something like a shadow. I don't know. All I know was that it was there, and that it wasn't natural. When I looked away and looked back at it, it was gone."

"Well, something's probably going wrong with your cams. Just don't think about it, and it won't be there."

"Impossible orders."

"Fine, then I can't help you with this. Figure it out yourself if you have to," he shoots back.

I sighed. "Look. Just forget about everything I said, okay?"

He grunted. "Fine."

The door slammed shut, meaning the last of the clean-up crew had just left. The lights would go out soon. I left the stage early. It was against the rules, but who's here to tell me I'm breaking the rules? Nobody's here anymore except for the guard, and he was still preparing at the office.

I headed down the main hallway while all the lights were still on. I could still clearly see where I was going without the need of someone to flash a light on the cameras.

To head down to the office before the lights go out, however, would be a really risky move. He knew nothing about us, nothing about how we work, so seeing one of us before the lights go out would probably send him running.

Then the building went dark again. The new guard was probably aware that this would happen, as no screams or panicking sounds seemed to come from the office.

"Hello?" says a voice that I soon recognized as Mike Schmidt's. So he recorded a message. I crept closer so I could hear it better. "Hey, I decided I should probably record a message for you, you know, just to get you through your first week.

"So, uh… first of all, welcome to Freddy Fazbear's pizza, a magical place for both children and adults alike, where fantasy fun come to life. As usual, Fazbear entertainment is not responsible for any death or dismemberment. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person's report will be filed within ninety days, or as soon as property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the walls have been replaced.

"Well, that's that. Now, onto trying to get you through your first week. Uh, I've actually worked in that office before you, but that was fourteen years ago. Now I'm working here on the day shift.

"If you pull up your tablet, you'll be given a live video feed of all of the rooms in the building. Now, some rooms are darker than others, so that's why you have lights on the cameras to help you see everything in each room.

"You probably noticed the two vents on either side of you, and you probably saw the buttons on top of each one. Those are for when you think someone is about to enter the office through one of the vents, as those spots right outside your office are blind spots on your cameras.

"Now, the key here is that you have to know where each of the animatronics are at any given time. If they do happen to see you at night, they'll probably think you're a naked endoskeleton without its costume on. Now, since that's against the rules, they'll probably try to stuff you in a Freddy Fazbear suit, but I won't really go into much detail on what happens when they do. Just know that you won't make it out alive.

"Now, since it's simply impossible to fight off an animatronic, you've been provided you with another way to stop them from reaching you. On your desk is an empty Freddy Fazbear head. Uh… the previous guard had a simple mask that you could strap on and take off in a flash, but that one didn't seem to work…

"But this should actually fool the old ones into thinking you have a suit on. The only problem is that you can't really see anything with the thing on your head, so it is recommended that you only wear it when necessary.

"Well, here's the last thing. If you don't learn anything else about this place and your job, then this is the single most important thing to learn." Mike paused for a moment. "You have to trust the new animatronics. Everything I told you before with the suit and the head only applies to the older ones that are sitting in the back room, and it was taught to me by the newer ones. There's yet to be an explanation as to why the old ones come out at night. But make sure you trust the new ones. They'll give you a few helpful tips for getting through the week. If you don't, then you will have no chance of surviving a week. A night, maybe, but not a week. You'll know who they are, don't worry.

"That's all I have to say for now. If you have any questions, then I'll be here this morning, and you can ask me then. If you want to complain about something, tell me before you tell anyone else. For now, first night should be easy. Okay? You should be fine. Goodnight."

A small click, and then silence filled the building once again. The new guard muttered some unintelligible words beneath his breath. It was obvious that Mike had used his notes to create this message. There was no way he would know all this from working the day shift.

I was now at the entrance to one of the party rooms. None of the older characters moved yet, but I could barely see Freddy down the hallway, closer to Parts & Service. The new guard flashed a light down the hallway for a brief moment before returning to the cameras.

Still nothing. While I still had time, I decided to move down toward Parts & Service, passing by Freddy on the way. He said nothing.

I pulled the handle, and old Bonnie bolted straight out of the room. I left him alone—Freddy should be able to take care of him should he get too close to the new guard.

Stepping inside, I found nothing unusual, nothing supernatural. At least, not yet. Maybe something will happen later, perhaps later this week or later tonight, if we're lucky. Until then, there's nothing to find out.

The older animatronics were still inactive. Old Freddy and old Chica both twitched a bit, while Foxy was hiding somewhere in the shadows. When old Freddy finally came to life, he wandered outside to the main hallway and just stared at the posters on the walls before turning and starting down the office hallway.

A light flashed in the room, providing me a clear view of everything in here for a brief moment. No one else has yet to move, and while old Freddy was heading down the hallway and my counterpart was somewhere else near the office, I decided I should go ahead and help for now.

Leaving Parts & Service, I found the new Foxy hanging from the ceiling. He/she was in a corner, blocking the camera from giving any live feed of what was going on in this hallway.

I took note, still unsure about how he/she would act. Heading down the hallway, I found old Freddy already inside the office, watching the new guard. The new guard was wearing the empty Fazbear head, not moving a single inch.

Old Freddy walked right out of the office. The new guard took off the mask and returned to the cameras. I entered one of the party rooms and started through the vent.

Then, as I was about to enter the office, the new guard checked the vent lights. I squinted for a moment, the bright light flashing right in front of me. Then the new guard went on with his business, flashing a light down the hallway again and throwing the Fazbear head back on when he found my counterpart crawling through the other vent. From inside the vent looking into the office, I could see the flicker of lavender on the other side—all obstacles, including the desk, have been moved out of the way.

Old Bonnie entered the office and left, ignoring the new guard. "Huh. That Fazbear head works pretty well," I say to myself, crawling into the office.

The new guard probably heard me, as he kept the head on. He couldn't see, so it made sense for him to keep the head on with something in the office. His breathing was inaudible, his chest unmoving.

"Quiet," I whisper, taking the Fazbear head off his head. "It's me."

He continued to stare down the hallway, eyes wide open and still as a statue. The flashlight he held in his hand dropped to the floor. As I placed the Fazbear head down on the desk, I took a look back toward the hallway. "Trust the new ones," the guard mutters to himself. "Use the head for the old ones."

The guard used the flashlight for a brief moment, and in less than a second, the Fazbear head covered his face again. Old Chica was right outside the office.

I scanned the room, finding a clock on top of one of the monitors. It was 1:14, according to what it said. "What's your name?" I ask, still observing the changes Mike had made to the room.

"My name?" he says shakily. "Uh… Madison Norwell."

Huh. I was always under the impression that Madison was a girl's name. Yet again, what am I to say when my name is Bonnie? It's a feminine name on a masculine character. Then there's the new Foxy, whose gender hasn't even been decided yet! People make weird decisions these days.

"Well, Madison," I start. "You're going to make it through your week. You'll be fine. Just listen to what we say, and you should be okay."

He nodded nervously. In a way, he was like Kyell, but he seemed more collected when around the old ones, judging on how he handled old Bonnie.

But collectiveness meant close to nothing when it came to working such a job that pushes one's sanity over a cliff.


	12. Chapter 12

This is a sanity test. It truly is. As Madison's night continued to progress, anxiety soon began to take over. I knew that collectiveness wouldn't matter. But seeing as it was only the first night, the old animatronics only appeared about six times in total.

Soon, the alarm inside the office went off, signifying that the clock struck six. "I survived the night," says Madison as if he had just won the lottery. "I survived my first night!"

Well, one down, four more to go, and then I still didn't know what they would do with the weekend nights. Maybe they would offer Madison overtime payment for those two nights, or they would just have to hire another entirely new night guard.

We all started down the hallway when Mike Schmidt entered the building. He greeted Madison on his way in, and Madison pulled him over.

"Hey," says Madison. "So I'm not really liking the whole 'animatronics are moving at night and stuff people in a suit' thing. They keep trying to get into my office."

Mike nodded. "Well, I did mention that in the recording. Did you ever come across Foxy anytime during the night?"

"Well, no."

"Then I'll tell you how to handle him later. The way he behaves is a bit… weird, if I must say so myself. From what they've told me, he seems to run down more often at the start of the night, and that the Freddy Fazbear head should work on him sometimes," says Mike.

"Sometimes?"

"I'm afraid so. None of them know his exact behavior pattern."

"Well, that's just great," mutters Madison. With bloodshot eyes from being up all night, he left the building and started up his car. He then pulled out of the parking lot and disappeared around a corner.

We allowed Mike to head over to the office with no further comments. The day, all of us already knew, would pass with nothing interesting. It's been the same thing every day. Let the families in, celebrate birthdays, party, and allow all families to leave. It was just repetitive.

It passed by, interrupted only by the employees having to close down the cove again, for the second time in two days. It was for the same reason, too. According to them, they said toddlers were taking Foxy apart again.

Other than that, nothing interesting happened. Once Mike left his office, Madison checked back in and took his spot for the night.

The nights have started to become quite repetitive. The lights would go out, and all of the old characters would leave Parts & Service for the guard. We would stop them, of course, until the clock reaches six, and then the daylight hours come and go just for another night of the same thing. The only thing that changed was the difficulty, and while it was quite drastic, it was still manageable.

When the lights went out, I was already near the office. The phone inside rang, and Mike's voice extended throughout the building again.

"Hello! It's Mike again. I don't want to talk too much right now because from what I know, the older animatronics tend to become more active, more quirky, as the week goes on. Also, what those new animatronics gave you last night is all they can do for you. They can fight, but only to an extent because that's not what they're built for.

"There's one character in the old lineup whose replacement actually just came in a few days ago. Foxy the Pirate Fox, as he is called. He sometimes appears down the hallway that leads to your office, so every now and then, just check for anything down there. I was told that he doesn't like being watched, so shining a light on him might delay his attack by a little bit.

"But should he ever run down toward your office, I think that the whole Fazbear head thing should work on him too. If it doesn't, then that's where I'm clueless. I guess it's all up to what the new animatronics can do from there.

"Yeah, sorry I couldn't tell you everything, but hey, second night! Building some confidence. You should be able to make it through this one. Okay, goodnight."

Madison was listening closely, still a bit disappointed that there was no definite solution for Foxy. I entered the office, and he pulled up the tablet to check on all of the older animatronics. They were still in their spots in Parts & Service, all except for old Bonnie. He had left the room and was standing in the doorway.

Figuring that nothing would come close to the office for a while, I decided to go to Parts & Service to check on what might be inside. Passing by Freddy on the way, I reached the room before anyone else left.

Once inside, I observed every corner, everything that a ray of light touched. When I was a significant distance inside, I turned around to find both old Freddy and old Chica leaving the room. Looking back at the corner, a shadow sat there. It seemed to bulge out of the wall, like a real figure, not flattened against the wall and floor. It wasn't there before they had left.

Looking toward the darker portion of the room, another figure was barely visible. It held still, then suddenly faded away without ever moving an inch. Strange.

The rest of the night went by. The old animatronics only visited Madison a few times, and luckily, as he probably picked up from the phone call, Foxy never ran down to the office. Every time I found him staring down at the office, Madison would be shining the flashlight straight at him. Then he would just turn back and go back to Parts & Service, mumbling several words like he always did.

Madison did not leave right when the alarm went off. He stayed behind in the building for about another hour, only to emerge from Mr. Heston's office and leave the building right away. He didn't say a word to us as he stormed off.

I found Freddy backstage, preparing for the day. "Hey, so I want to bring back that topic about the shadow thing from the other day."

Freddy sighed. "Do you have to talk about this shadow thing again?"

"Yes!" I reply. "It keeps appearing in Parts & Service, only at night. And it was right after all the old animatronics had gone. Then there was something else that seemed to disappear into thin air when I looked at it. I don't know. It was weird. I'm trying not to think about it, but they just keep appearing."

"Huh. Strange. You're just seeing things," says Freddy. "Just focus on keeping the night guard alive, and then you won't see them anymore."

I shook my head. "I don't really think that's going to be possible. They'll still appear like they always do. I feel that these uh… I wouldn't exactly call them hallucinations, but that's what I'll say for now. Anyway, these 'hallucinations' don't seem to be fake. It's like they're tangible."

Freddy had no answer. He shrugged, saying, "Then I don't know what to say about that. Let it unfold. Yet again, that's probably not the best idea."

I nodded. "Think of it. If I'm in that back room for too long, someone is going to get to that office. But if I'm never in there, I'm never going to figure anything out. And these things only happen when there's the danger of someone reaching the office."

"Look, if you're reasoning is correct, then we can't learn anything these hours because one, there's children, two, Mike would never let us near Parts & Service during the day, and three, these things will never appear during the day. Look, let's just wait for night, and we'll figure something out from there."

The doors opened again. About half of the children bolted toward the cove to meet with Foxy. I realized that I didn't see him/her at all last night. He/she could have been roaming around, and we've never known, or maybe he/she never left the cove or never put a significant distance between himself/herself and the cove.

Throughout the day, every time I decided that I should check on Foxy, the cove was closed. A group of employees were posted outside the cove, preventing anyone from entering. According to what they said, it was closed for the same reason again. Taking Foxy apart.

What exactly was 'taking Foxy apart'? I knew that it was supposed to sound obvious, but there has to be a reason for everything. There has to be a reason for the toddlers taking Foxy apart. Is it just because of their inability to keep their hands to themselves that causes them to dismantle him/her? It did seem like the most logical reason as to why the cove keeps going down.

It happened about four times today, and the doors weren't going to close for another two hours. Four times the cove closed down because toddlers were taking Foxy apart. With every hour, the looks on our faces grew more worried as the employees had to keep the kids at bay so they could put Foxy back together.

Occasionally, I would take a look down the hallway toward Parts & Service. Such a mystery, the room was. An agglomeration of spare parts scattered across the floor, it was the most sordid room in the entire building. Hallucinations galore. Everything just has to happen in there, doesn't it? In a room where most of the time, not even half of the area is lit up.

Then again, it was plain obvious that I wasn't allowed in there at day. Nothing even happens in there at day anyway, so what's the point in checking at such a time?

As the rest of the day went on, I began to think more and more about what is in that room, what the reasons are for… well, pretty much every happening at night. Why I had that blackout on Kyell's fifth night, why I'm seeing things that aren't even there.

I joined Freddy backstage as the doors were about to close. "Such a mystery that Parts & Service room is," I say. "Everything happens in there at night, yet nothing happens in there at day."

Freddy just shrugged. "You probably know more about that room than I do," he says. "Maybe you can try to piece together some things you've seen inside that room."

"Only two," I mention. "Just that weird 'tangible' shadow in the corner and the fading-into-thin-air thing that I barely caught. There's more, sure, but those are the only two I really remember actually seeing."

"Look. If you want to investigate, then investigate. Just keep in mind what our priority is, and that's to keep the night guard alive," says Freddy.

The lights weren't going to go out for a while. We still had those couple of hours in between the doors closing and the lights going out. In the meantime, I decided to run a check on the office to make sure everything was in order.

"Phone, check. Fan, check. Clock on top of monitors, check," I mutter to myself. There was even a special pink cupcake with wide eyes on the desk next to the fan. The same one that Chica often carried around. Perhaps Mike had set it there a few hours ago purely for decoration purposes. The Fazbear head was also sitting on the desk.

Figuring that everything was ready for the night, I returned to the show stage. I joined Freddy and Chica, taking my proper place on the stage. Looking out toward the cove, nothing interesting was going on there, except that an 'OUT OF ORDER' sign was placed outside.

At 11:24, Madison entered the building and immediately headed down toward the office. The last of the clean-up crew ran final checks on the place before they left, leaving the dark outside world empty except for the one vehicle that belonged to Madison.

Once the night started, I bolted down toward Parts & Service. On my way, I saw old Freddy leaving the room as well as the other three starting down toward the office.

Once inside, I found nothing out of place. Everything was as it should be during the day. No shadows, no fading figures, nothing. Just a multitude of spare parts scattered across the floor—there was even a deactivated endoskeleton to go along with it.

"Nothing yet," I mutter to myself. For now, I should probably focus on Madison. Deciding that I would take a look inside later, I left the room and headed down the hallway toward the office.


	13. Chapter 13

The rest of the night breezed straight past me. I had spent almost the entire time in Parts & Service, coming out only when Freddy or Chica called for some help in fending off the old animatronics.

Then the rest of the week flew by like it was nothing. On each of the last two nights, I was very early in reaching Parts & Service that by the time I arrived there, no one has even left yet. This caused Freddy and Chica to also leave the stage much quicker on those two nights. Until they were all gone, I would just call out who was in and who was out every few moments.

Madison managed to handle himself pretty well with a total of four animatronics trying to 'clothe' him (a word which the old Foxy used when he referred to putting them in suits) and two who were actually defending him. Success with such an unfair balance made me wonder how we failed the protect Kyell, who was lucky to have three animatronics by his side. Madison only had two and managed to survive the nights.

Our new Foxy character did not come anywhere near the office for the entirety of the week. The farthest he/she would go would be to the main hallway that connected the dining area with Parts & Service and the office hallway, and then he/she would retreat back to the dining area to hide for the rest of the night. A reserved individual, he/she is, but it was something that he/she would have to get over.

But each day, his/her condition only worsened. My worry for the character grew—no one wanted to see a character as fresh as Foxy get scrapped. It would be a financial flop for the company, and to scrap a character could break the hearts of children.

Right before Madison's fifth night, the employees just gave up. Too many times the toddlers took Foxy apart, and too many times they had to place the cove 'OUT OF ORDER' because of it. There was even a drawing on the floor of the cove that day of a kid deliberately taking the character apart and running around holding one if the eyes.

Recognition became nearly impossible. The character that we have all come to know in a period of four days has changed completely from a character whose purpose was to take children on imaginary adventures has become a simple take-apart-and-put-back-together toy for the toddlers.

Once Madison finished his fifth night, we were all relieved it was finally over. The company could now look for a new night guard, and Madison did what Kyell couldn't do, and that was make it out of a whole week alive.

We all waited eagerly as Mr. Heston walked inside that Saturday to hand Madison his paycheck. He held the tiny slip of paper in his hands, reading the text very carefully. It was a minimum wage job, so he wasn't really expecting much to begin with—just a meager $217.50 from working a total of thirty hours in the week. I calculated and concluded that the minimum wage at the time was $7.25. The date on the paycheck read '8/8/2009'.

"By the way, if you'd like to work overtime, you're welcome to watch the place for a sixth night. After that, if you still decide to stay, we'll move you over to the day shift after hearing your complaints about the animatronics," says Mr. Heston. Then he was off back to his office for the day.

Madison held the slip of paper between his fingers as he pondered things over. He was definitely contemplating whether he should or should not come tonight for another round. He was muttering to himself, and I picked up on some of the things he was saying. Taking a seat at one of the dining tables, he continued talking with himself.

"I should. It's more money. Then again, I shouldn't. If this trend continues, then tonight will be drastically more difficult than the last," he says to himself, not realizing that all three of us were listening closely.

"Don't do it," Freddy blurts out. "None of us want to see another guard go out. Bonnie especially."

"Way to make it all about me," I mutter before raising my voice. "But he's right. You don't want to go for another night."

"Maybe not," he says, pausing for a moment before speaking up again. "Actually, definitely not. I'm out of here and I'll talk my hours over with Heston tomorrow. I'm looking for a night-but-not-quite-graveyard type of shift, maybe from 6:00 to 10:00. Less hours, but it should do."

He stood up and left the building. I watched as he pulled out of the driveway, and Mike Schmidt clocked in on time like he always did. He was like a machine when it came to his role. He never missed anything—he executed his part in holding the pizzeria together perfectly, no matter how repetitive and boring it may have seemed to him.

Before heading down the hallway, he took a sat on the same chair that Madison was previously on, straightening the party hat set on the table and evening out the spaces between each plate within his reach.

"I see the kid's made it past his week," says Mike. "I'm hoping he didn't take the offer for another night from Heston."

"Nope," replies Freddy. "How did you know about the offer?"

"The old manager gave me the same offer when I worked the graveyard shift in the old building. Let's just say that I was a fool to take the offer and I was lucky to get out. Then it so happened I had to work another night, which actually proved to be the easiest night ever. They barely left the show stage that night. Then I was handed a pink slip for 'tampering with the animatronics'. Right when the new building opens, they want me on the day shift, so I took it.

Freddy just shook his head. "Too much information. We just want to know about that sixth night."

"It's nothing much, really. Just ridiculously active animatronics, and that's all there is to offer from working such a night. I highly doubt they'll use a newbie when it comes to something like that," replies Mike.

The doors were slated to open in about another hour. Mike decided that he had enough and headed down the hallway toward the office. I went behind the desk, and surprisingly, I found Foxy's—the new one—reference sheet face-down on the floor. I picked it up to find that it has been updated within the last few days.

TOY FOXY/FOXY 2.0  
KNOWN AS: Foxy the Pirate Fox, The Mangle  
HEIGHT: 7'0" (varies)  
GENDER: Unknown  
MAIN COLOR: Rose pink  
OTHER INFO.: A reserved individual, after a multitude of times being taken apart by toddlers, 'The Mangle' has become a take-apart-and-put-back-together attraction in the restaurant, thus explaining its varying height.

It still wasn't much, but at least it was something. 'The Mangle'. Such a strange nickname to give to a character. The word perfectly described him/her perfectly; disfigured, dismembered, and just plain ruined. Yet the word may also seem a bit unpleasant to little kids (if they ever happen to know what it means) and discourage them from going anywhere near the cove.

If I could pull out one good thing about The Mangle from what I had just read, it was that they weren't going to scrap this project. The Mangle, disfigured or not, was still a part of the family, and any member of the family was to stay.

Looking to the bright side of the character, I smiled. It felt fake. I left the desk before anyone else appeared, holding the faint smile on my face. Freddy and Chica were both backstage, while Mangle was peeking out of the cove slightly. When I did something as small as glance at him/her, he/she retreated back to the cove.

As the crowds began to pour in for a busy Saturday afternoon, Freddy opted out of being the first to greet them. Chica stepped forward, being the backup singer, and decided that she would be the first to introduce herself to the kids.

Holding Freddy's microphone in hand, she began speaking. "Hey, kids! I'm Chica the Chick, and welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza! We hope you have such a wonder-filled stay here!"

She handed the microphone back to Freddy. After we briefly played through one of the shortest songs in our lineup, we were left to wander around the pizzeria.

Again, we chatted with the kids. Though we didn't do it often before, we began to take more pictures with the kids upon request. Freddy mainly stuck with The Mangle, making sure nothing happens to him/her. They haven't really left the project to rot, but it was clear that they wouldn't repair him/her should something go wrong.

With another day gone, we were to spend another weekend without a night guard. We were to spend another weekend without making any progress.

Honestly, I hoped for his own good that Madison wouldn't come in tonight. It's better for him to ensure his own survival rather than take the risk for such a measly overtime pay.

He didn't come in. That was the good part. With no new night guard as of yet, we could finally take a small break until they do happen to find a new one. Most likely, he or she will start Monday night, like Kyell and Madison.

Another thirty-six hours flew by in what felt like mere seconds. Now it was Monday, and still no sign of a new night guard. Neither Freddy nor Chica have found any information hinting toward a new guard, but something pulled at me, telling me that they have found a new one.

It's been an entire weekend of resting and not seeing the old characters at all, of Mike Schmidt spending most of his time in the office recording and playing back his own messages for the new guard (oh, how much he hated to hear his own voice).

In the evening, Madison came in wearing his uniform. So they did move him over to the day shift. That was a good thing—no more risk of dying for him.

A few more hours went by. Madison left the building around 11:00, while Mike left a few minutes later. As the lights were about to go out, we still had no new guard as of yet.

Peering out into the parking lot, I could see one figure sprinting toward the glass doors. He burst through into the building and sprinted down toward the office. Why is he running? He still has thirty minutes left until lights out. Nonetheless, that simple action made me doubt whether he would be able to make it through a week.

"That's our new night guard?" says Freddy, unimpressed. "Well, I think we're in for a long week if you ask me."

Chica spoke before I could. "Well, you've only just seen him for the first time ever. He might not be like that all the time. He can't be that bad."

"You think he can survive?" I ask them.

"Maybe, if Chica's right," says Freddy. "Otherwise, from all that running, he doesn't look like one who would listen to a lot of people. I have a feeling he's going to get himself killed by running out of the office."

I gestured for him to say more. "And if one of us scares him off and causes him to run out, then…"

They exchanged glances. Looking at me, Freddy shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's one reason we shouldn't be office the entire time."

"Oh, come on!" I say. "It's going to happen someday. One of these night guards won't listen to Mike's recording and leave the office because one of us appeared. Most likely it will be Mangle, but it can be either one of us three as well."

"What do you suppose we do?" asks Freddy.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Just stay out of his sight until you have to jump in between him and one of the old ones."

The camera on the show stage whirred. The new guard already figured out how to use the tablet. The camera drooped down as it went inactive, meaning that the new guard had gone to another room.

Then the lights went out.

It was the same thing all over again.


	14. Chapter 14

I roamed the halls of the building once again. Peeking through a window, I found that the office was empty, but the lights were still on. The fan still spun, chipping away at what little power the building had for the night.

The door was closed, preventing me from entering. A figure sprinted down the hall straight toward me, and I barely avoided it. It slammed into the door, forcing it open. The lights went out. The fan stopped spinning.

I heard something down the hallway and headed toward the noise. I followed the screams and shouts of the endoskeleton as closely as I could. It led me backstage.

Finding Freddy backstage holding the endoskeleton, I simply came in, locked the door, and watched. He forcefully shoved the thing into the suit.

The place was completely dark, so I could not see what was going on. I could only listen to what was happening. The crunching of something as Freddy continued to fit the endoskeleton into its suit reverberated throughout the back room. The endoskeleton continued to scream, as if trying to reach something beyond its ability.

Finally, the thing stopped screaming. The only things still audible were Freddy's laugh and the continuous crunching of whatever that was, probably wires snapping or something.

The door opened. Freddy left the room, leaving me to face the costume.

When the morning bell rang, all of the lights came on, including here backstage. It provided me with a clear view of the costume.

A dark red substance stained the floor, some of it also splattered onto the wall. It leaked out of the suit, mostly around the eyes and mouth. The eyes in the costume seemed to roll around on their own, staring into blank space. The jaw was wide open, and what looked like a tooth fell out.

Out of curiosity, I kneeled down and picked it up. Feeling it, I found that this actually was a real tooth! Taking a closer look at the eyes, I noticed veins coursing through the whites. Staring into those blank eyes, I felt myself move a lot slower, and slower, and slower until I was practically frozen.

Then I fell back. The costume of the dead guard loomed over me. "Six."

* * *

I woke up in Parts & Service. What a strange place it was to go out. It was already morning, as all of the lights were on. It provided me with a clear view of everything in the room.

Sitting against the wall was no surprise. Of course, the Freddy Fazbear suit was now filled, the eyes rolling around in the sockets.

I stood up and headed over to it. I checked if the body inside was still alive. The arm flopped down to the side, and the costume didn't twitch a single bit.

"No! Every single damn time!" I slammed by fist into the wall in front of me, right next to all of the markings inscribed in the wall. "Every single time I black out! He's always dead when I wake up!"

It was getting repetitive. I grabbed Foxy's hook without even bothering to remove it from his arm. Taking the entire body with me, I fiercely scratched the guard's name and the date on the wall.

RICHARD ZIMMERMAN  
NIGHT 6: 1/23-24, '10

I threw Foxy back onto the floor where he belonged and left the room. He was a sixth night victim! He was the twenty-sixth person to ever work the graveyard shift here. Of those twenty-six, only seven have made it out of their week alive. Out of the nineteen who didn't make it, most went out on their fourth or fifth night.

And out of the seven who managed to live through the entire week, only three, one of them being Madison, were moved to the day shift—the other four quit right when they finished their fifth night.

Richard Zimmerman was only the second guard to have ever attempted the sixth night, claiming that he was desperate for that overtime pay. As far as I knew, he didn't even complain to Heston or anyone, and thus wasn't going to be moved to the day shift for next week.

I read through the rest of the names carved into the wall. Every marking was written in using Foxy's hook, and the wall was beginning to become congested with names.

KYELL MINSKY  
NIGHT OF 7/31-8/01, '09

HARRISON OFFMAN  
NIGHT 5: 8/21-22, '09

DAVID OFFMAN  
NIGHT 4: 8/27-28, '09

KENNEDY HILL  
NIGHT 5: 9/04-05, '09

JILLIAN TURIAN  
NIGHT 4: 9/17-18, '09

PAUL BIRK  
NIGHT 6: 9/26-27, '09

MAXIM MERIWETHER  
NIGHT 3: 10/07-08, '09

GEORGE FINNEL  
NIGHT 5: 10/16-17, '09

TYLER KINDRELL  
NIGHT 5: 10/23-24, '09

ADRIAN GILLIMAN  
NIGHT 5: 10/30-31, '09

MICHAEL DURIAN  
NIGHT 5: 11/06-07, '09

TAYLOR ASTON  
NIGHT 5: 11/13-14, '09

MILEY LESTER  
NIGHT 4: 11/19-20, '09

JORGE ALTUVE  
NIGHT 4: 11/26-27, '09

HARRY KELBERT  
NIGHT 2: 12/01-02, '09

HAROLD HENDRICKS  
NIGHT 5: 12/11-12, '09

XAVIER MANNSFELD  
NIGHT 1: 12/14-15, '09

FREDDIE GILLIMAN  
NIGHT 4: 12/31, '09-1/01, '10

Another list, one for survivors, was scratched into the wall in the office, but the text wasn't nearly as large as the markings in here.

The day shift was starting to become a bit crowded as well, now with a total of four working that shift. If they were to move one of them to work the nights, it would most likely be Mike.

Now the date was January 24, 2010. As far as figuring out what those random shadows appearing in Parts & Service were went, we had no such luck in making any progress. It would appear every now and then, only to disappear in a matter of seconds. They weren't tangible—the second my hand would reach it, it would fade away into nothingness.

It had become a repeat cycle. A new guard would come in, and we would attempt to help out him or her. If he or she manages to survive the week, then he or she would either quit or they would move him or her to the day shift. We now have four on the day shift.

If they weren't to survive, then the old animatronics would go into hibernation until the company finds another victim to work the nights. Always, a guard's first night was a Monday night.

The two night six victims were the ones I felt worst about. They could be living their lives as normal if they chose not to come in for another night. Instead, out of pure choice, they're now in suits, and the clean-up crew was about to dispose of Richard's body.

I headed back over to the show stage with my head down. As I approached Freddy and Chica backstage, I could hear the two conversing with each other.

"Look. You and I both know how he feels every time a guard goes out," says Freddy.

"I know, but it's hard not to think of it all the time now," replies Chica.

"Don't talk about it."

They both went silent when they saw me approaching. I simply sighed. "Second night six victim," I say before nonchalantly grabbing my guitar and laying down on the floorboard, staring straight up. The front door opened, and someone walked in.

Freddy and Chica both left the stage. I could hear their voices outside, talking to Mike. I didn't care. Sure, we managed to get every guard through five nights for three straight weeks, all of which quit, but I couldn't stop thinking about the latest night six victim.

I moved over to where I was right behind the curtains, where I could hear the three of them.

"Night six. What did I tell him about night six?" says Mike. Apparently, he wasn't happy with Richard taking the offer either. "Now we lost another guard. We should have nine survivors, but two uh… 'morons' just had to take that offer."

"Know anything concerning the next guard?" asks Freddy. "They're running out. They even went through Kyell's brother. At least he was moved to the day shift."

"I actually do know something. They found this guy yesterday. He's next in line. Uh… Devlin Mannsfeld, if I remember correctly."

I peeked out of the curtain to find Freddy with his hand in his face. "Is he Xavier's brother?"

Mike nodded. "Sadly, yes."

I just sighed. Of all the people, the brother of the only night one victim was next in line. Of all people! They maybe could've found someone more like Kyell or Madison, but Xavier's brother! The key right now was to hope Devlin is nothing like his brother, who only went out on his first night because he fled the office. After that moment, I remembered nothing on how he died or who killed him.

But we can't just simply let a night guard go out. We set the bar for ourselves to protect any night guard who steps foot into this restaurant past midnight. To just sit there and let a night guard die because we didn't expect much of him was something we could not do.

"Of all the people! Night one, people!" Freddy says sarcastically. "We're probably in for another night one or two death."

Mike just simply shrugged. "If he's the next in line, then he's the next in line. If he goes out earlier, then they'll just find a new one quicker."

He then headed down the main hallway toward the office. "Well, I'm going to re-record the messages. They don't seem to be working too well, looking back at how we've done with the previous night guards. Ouch. Ten straight weeks of no success. Sure, we've had a bit of luck after that, but… uh… yeah. I'll just revise them anyway."

I was back up by now. "Night one victim's brother," I say, approaching Freddy and Chica. The clean-up crew hauled a Freddy Fazbear suit through the doorway, down toward Parts & Service. "Oh, I really don't know how this will turn out." I watched as they continued to work on cleaning up Richard's mess.

We had to kill the time first. It would be another thirty-six hours of waiting, six of which would be spent doing absolutely nothing because the old animatronics would be hibernating tonight! The two days were quite boring, being the same thing all over again with entertaining kids, but that's what we were made for.

The daytime security guards, excluding Mike, didn't work all day. While Kyell's brother, Darian, worked mostly in the morning until the afternoon, the other two, which did include Madison, only worked the evenings. Mike, of course, had to work all day, from when the doors opened until they closed, though often spending extra time in the office to make sure everything was ready for the night guard.

The time passed. One and a half days passed, and now we were about two hours from being introduced to the new night guard. Devlin Mannsfeld, brother of Xavier Mannsfeld, the night one victim. All of us were hoping that Devlin would be anything but similar to Xavier.

Looking into kid's cove, I could not spot Mangle behind the crowd of toddlers. Some weird muffled sound would come from kid's cove every time I walked near it.

As far as the nights went with Mangle, he/she rarely ever approached the office. Whenever he/she did come near the office, he/she would only stay there for about a minute and then flee to one of the party rooms or back down the hallway. He/she still clung to the ceiling—that habit was unbreakable now.

The new guard walked in through the front door. Mike Schmidt came out of the office into the dining area at that exact moment, either by coincidence or he was looking at the cameras from the main hallway.

"Good luck," Mike handed Devlin the tablet and left the building. Devlin then headed down toward the office for his first night.

"It's still night one," Freddy mentions. The building was now completely void of all people except Devlin. "Should be pretty easy as long as he doesn't flee the office."

"Still," I say, leaving the stage. "I'm going to make sure he doesn't leave the office."

"Hey! Where are you going?" he whispers loudly.

"To the office, as usual."

Heading down the hallways toward the office, I chose to remain out of sight as usual. On the way there, the lights went out, meaning the night has officially begun. I was just outside the office. As expected, Mike's voice came out of the office as the new recording played, though the first few words everyone nearby heard were words of discouragement.

"Hello, hello?" says the recording. "Well, if you're hearing this, then chances are you've made a very poor career choice."


	15. Chapter 15

I entered the office once Mike's recording finished playing. I knew Devlin saw me—he even glanced at me for a few seconds before turning away toward the tablet to see where everyone was. "No one's moved yet, except for this one," he says, glancing at me as he set the tablet back down on the desk.

He must have listened well to every little detail from Mike's message, except for those first few words of discouragement. He held the Fazbear head, stale from overuse to where even I had my doubts on whether it could fool the old animatronics.

The flashlight laid next to the tablet on the desk. Devlin picked it up and flashed it down the hallway for a split second before turning it off and returning to the cameras.

Mike's message was lengthy and boring for the most part that I was surprised that Devlin was able to sit through all that talk. By the time the voice stopped speaking, it was already 12:15.

A dark ambient noise came from the hallway. Devlin reached for the flashlight again and flashed it down the hallway, finding Foxy frozen in place at the far end, staring down toward the office in his usual pose. The hook hung loosely from the end of his arm.

"Freddy's out," mumbles Devlin. Which Freddy? I risked a glance at his tablet to find that he was speaking of old Freddy, who wasn't in Parts & Service anymore. I noticed that old Bonnie and old Chica have also left. That was quick. Usually it takes a lot longer for them to all leave Parts & Service.

Dare I do it? I've had no such luck with figuring out all the happenings in that back room for what, five months now, having hardly ever seen anything but the shadows that occasionally appeared in that back room.

But it's night one! What's there to worry about on night one? As long as this guy doesn't leave the office, he should be golden for the night, possibly two or three considering the fact that he didn't seem to look worried at all.

After measuring all of the factors, I decided that it would be safe to head down there and try to investigate one more time. Of course, I didn't expect to find too much, but it's worth another try.

As the doorknob to Parts & Service was within my reach, I jumped at a voice behind me, but then calmed down as I recognized it.

"Investigating again?" says Freddy sarcastically. It was as if the word meant nothing anymore from the what-felt-like million times he's used it every time I went to Parts & Service.

"Yes," I say, as usual. "To be honest, the new guard actually isn't half bad. A lot better than his brother, if you ask me."

"Gee. I sure hope you're right," he mutters before glancing down the hall. His eyes suddenly went wide as he saw what was going on down there, and he bolted straight down the corridor for the office, nearly trucking over Foxy. I saw that old Chica was in the office. Hopefully, Devlin had the head on.

I pulled my attention away from what was going on down there in the office. I turned the doorknob (which wasn't necessary because the door was always broken) and opened up the passageway to the room.

Immediately, I saw the shadow of Freddy Fazbear sitting in the corner. No surprise there. I've grown used to seeing it there to the point where it wasn't even worth noting anymore. Other than that, there was nothing inside.

As I turned toward the exit, I noticed something inscribed on the wall right next to the door frame. It seemed to have been carved in with Foxy's hook like all of the names on one of the other walls in this room. The only thing that was there were two short words.

'IT'S ME.'

What is that supposed to mean? 'It's me.' Who is 'me', and what are they referring to? Those two words seemed to lead me nowhere. I glanced back to the corner of the room to find it empty—the shadow had gone. Looking back to the text on the wall, I found that it had also disappeared.

I found Freddy pulling his own counterpart toward Parts & Service. I left the room to make way for them, and if Freddy was to lock him in the room again, I didn't want to get stuck for an entire night in here.

But Freddy just simply threw his counterpart into the room and bolted straight back down the hallway toward Devlin. I followed him as quickly as my feet could take me, as I saw that old Bonnie was now standing over the guard.

Old Bonnie turned away and started down the hallway. From him only came the usual incomprehensible beeps and clicks as he tried to say something.

I kept my head down as he walked past me. Taking a look back to make sure old Bonnie wasn't going to come near the office for a while, I barely managed to evade Foxy as he sprinted down the hallway.

Devlin ducked down as Foxy flew straight over him. He then stared at Foxy, watching him leave the office. The hook on his right hand was threatening to disconnect itself from the rest of the arm—I must have worn it out from scratching so many names onto the wall.

Once I reached the office, I found Chica inside, checking up on Devlin. He was breathing heavily from everything that just unfolded in front of him in the past few minutes.

"Really! It's only night one! Go easy on the new guy!" exclaims Chica, her voice directed at no one in particular.

This was a night one, but from how active these old animatronics have been in the past hour or so, it almost felt like a night four. If the old ones are more active than normal this week for whatever reason, then I could only imagine what Devlin's fifth night would be like, should he even make it to that point.

Old Freddy laughed as he left Parts & Service again, shuffling throughout the various hallways and party rooms. Old Chica was nowhere to be seen, but I took note of a noise coming from the right vent.

Another few minutes passed by, and old Freddy's laugh seemed to go on infinitely. It had shown no sign of stopping since it began. "Will he just stop laughing already?" I murmur, glancing at Devlin. He was trying to remain calm as he flipped through the cameras.

When Devlin placed down the tablet, he picked up the flashlight and started walking around the office. Though he came dangerously close to the exit, he never crossed the supposed line that separated the hallway from the actual office itself.

I moved behind the desk and picked the tablet up. Rather than being met with the normal live feed that came from the cameras, all I got was static. Some more words seemed to be spelled out across the screen, barely legible.

'YOU CAN'T.'

I put the tablet back down on the desk. I can't what? I can't look at the cameras? I can't keep night guards alive? What specifically can I not do, if those words were even directed at me?

Devlin snatched the head from the top of the desk. I could hear a soft jingle ring throughout the pizzeria. Both Freddy and Chica looked around like they were wondering what it was—I'm not insane this time. Even Devlin heard it, as the flashlight rested in one of his hands while the head hung from the other.

It was something I recognized. "Toreador," I whisper to myself, knowing that no one else in the room could hear me. The song grew louder as something continued to move around in the building.

It cut off. Suddenly, old Freddy appeared in the room. Devlin put the head on the moment he saw the brown figure emerge from the hallway.

As I watched closely, the lights in the office seemed to flicker for a few seconds. Old Freddy inspected Devlin closely, trying to verify that he was in a costume.

The lights in the office went out for a brief moment, but came back on to reveal that old Freddy had left. The jungle then resumed somewhere down the hallway, though it seemed more distant than before.

I glanced back to the markings on the wall, those that honored all of the night guards who managed to survive a whole week. The markings appeared to be gone, but they faded back into view, along with the same two words from Parts & Service. 'IT'S ME.' When I looked away and back at the wall, the two words were gone.

When Devlin flipped up the tablet to see the camera feed, it worked just fine. He could view all of the rooms without fail. Sure, the screen would flash with static for a split second whenever someone move into or out of the room currently being viewed, but other than that, it worked perfectly.

He quickly hid from Foxy, who simply crashed into the desk. The hook was barely hanging from the arm, swaying to and fro with every metallic clank on the floor. As he moved back toward Parts & Service, the flashlight shone on him a several times. Foxy seemed to grow more tense every time the flashlight came on.

Remembering what was in the right vent, I hopped over to it and pressed the light button. Sure enough, old Chica was right there, crawling through the vent. "Right vent," I call out.

Devlin switched over to the right vent, but the screen came up with nothing but a bit of movement on the left side. Needless to say, it was enough to make him throw on the Fazbear head and wait for old Chica to leave the office.

Some clanking down the hallway caught my attention. It was like something knocked over a plate or some piece of furniture. Freddy and Chica both thought about going, but I decided to take the task myself to find out who was where.

As I headed down to the far left party room, I felt myself begin to move slower, like in my flashback the night before. I had a slight hunch as to what it meant, and I sincerely hoped that I was wrong.

But alas, it was exactly what I had thought of it to be. The second I reached the room and saw old Bonnie inside, I collapsed to the floor and blacked out.

* * *

From the west hallway, I watched through the windows as Chica attempted to enter the office from the other side. Foxy was trying to break in from this side.

"Uh, hey, listen. I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow," says a voice from inside as Foxy continued pounding at the door. "It's- it's been a bad night here for me. Um, I'm kind of glad that I recorded my messages for you when I did.

"Uh, hey, do me a favor." Foxy continued pounding at the door, trying to drain the last bit of power the endoskeleton inside had left. "Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room. I'm going to try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad. Uh, I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there."

Foxy had almost finished the job. With one more hit, both doors slid open and the lights went out. Almost instantly, Freddy passed by me. His jingle began playing.

Chica entered the room, and suddenly everything stopped. The morning bell rang throughout the building, and everyone simply froze. The one I now recognized as a guard had stopped moving, as well as everyone else. I was the only one still moving about.

* * *

Suddenly, I'm back in the party room. I was lying on the floor, facing up toward the ceiling. I quickly sat up, bewildered by the sudden flashback. I dreaded to find what I assumed was in Parts & Service.

Heading over there, I noticed as I approached the room that the lights were still out. No noises came from anywhere—even old Freddy's jingle had stopped.

When I reached the Freddy Fazbear costume inside Parts & Service, I checked it to notice that it was still empty! Nothing filled the eye sockets, and it seemed there was nothing in there at all.

"Well, that's a first," I mutter to myself. I stood up straight and headed out of the office. An alarm rang, and the lights suddenly came on, followed by the old animatronics' return to Parts & Service.

As quickly as I could, I headed down toward the office to find Devlin just standing there, completely fine. I had expected him to be dead by now from the flashback, but I guessed I was wrong for once.

"Where have you been?" asks Freddy as he approaches me. "You said you'd quickly check the party rooms, then you're gone for two hours."

"I'm sorry," I say. "I can't control when I black out. I honestly thought Devlin would be dead when I woke up!"

Freddy and Chica stopped. "Wait. You went out again?" asks Freddy. "Huh. I thought you would only go out whenever someone catches the night guard."

I just shrugged. "You didn't see me on the cameras?"

Both of them shook their heads. "You were probably in a blind spot," suggests Chica.

"Probably. Either way, I still blacked out and Devlin's still going strong by the looks of it." I noticed Mike coming down the hallway. "Well, look who's early today."

Mike entered the office, relieved to find that Devlin had made it through his first night. "So, how was it?" he simply asked. "Also, I found the Mangle back in the cove already."

Devlin pondered for a moment before he answered with a single word. "Intense."

"It was like a night four," says Freddy. "They were that active on the first night."

"Huh," says Mike. "Strange for them to do that much for someone's first night, but look at the bright side! You made it! Congrats!"

"Thanks," Devlin murmurs.

"Now, judging from what Freddy just now told me about what happened last night, I'm really hoping you're able to handle the week," adds Mike.

Devlin gritted his teeth at the thought of not making it. "And you just ruined it."

"Sorry."

I noticed that no one was bringing up anything about his brother. It was very possible that part of the reason Devlin was working here was because his brother had worked here a few weeks back. I didn't want to suddenly change the topic, so I decided to keep silent, though something still tugged at me to say something about it.

"Well, I guess you should better get going," says Mike. "The last thing a night guard wants to do is fall asleep during their shift."

Devlin thought for a moment then nodded. "I guess you're right," he responds, starting out of the office. "See you then!"

Once he was all the way down the hallway and around the corner, I was the first to speak up. "So what about the Mangle?" I ask Mike.

"The thing's already back in kid's cove," he answers.

"Huh," says Freddy. "Figures. The fox hardly ever leaves the cove, even at night. Never came near the office once since they started using him!"

"Or her," I add.

"Whatever. You get what I mean," Freddy retorts. "My point is, that fox has never gotten past the main hallway. He—or she—would always block out that camera until he moves back to the dining area. No night guard has ever seen the Mangle at night!"

The office went silent. Freddy did have a point, that Mangle was not going anywhere at night, but where was he trying to go with this? "Your point?" asks Chica.

Freddy just shrugged. "Nothing, really. Just something that you should take note of."

"You think they'd put doors to this office, huh?" says Mike, changing the subject. "I had doors when I worked the nights here."

"I don't see why they didn't," I say. "Doors would be nice, but I don't think they would last very long. Just look at the one to Parts & Service."

"True, true. But still. Even if they won't last too long, they're still something to protect you from them. And know that what you're hearing is coming from someone who has never worked the night shift at the new place, so I can understand if you think doors shouldn't be added."

I simply nodded. "Well, thanks."

We all headed back down the hall to the show stage, leaving Mike in the office to set things up for Devlin's second night. The kids would be arriving soon.

But from what I saw on that first night, I could expect anything to happen for the rest of the week.


	16. Chapter 16

"It's me," I mutter to myself. "It's me, you can't, it's me."

Those two short sentences seemed to float around everywhere I looked. They appeared along the walls, on the floor, even on the ceiling. Everywhere I looked, the sentence would fade into view before slowly fading out.

As far as I knew, neither Freddy nor Chica could see them. I told them about it, and they would stare at me like I was from a different world.

It's night three now. Devlin is still going strong. His second night was still tougher than the first night, albeit not by that much. The difference was definitely there, but it only involved the old animatronics appearing in the office much more often.

I bumped into Foxy, who was staring down the hallway at Devlin. He snapped his head at me, showing off the rows of sharp teeth. I backed off slowly, hoping that Foxy wouldn't give me any dents or damage something.

He gave me a dead stare before looking back down the hallway. Devlin flashed a light on him several times, setting him off on a sprint down toward the office.

I had no choice but to follow him. Freddy and Chica were off in the party rooms holding off their own counterparts. Mangle, as usual, was still somewhere off in the dining area. He/she did not dare to approach anything or anyone at night.

Catching sight of old Bonnie in the party room that led to the left vent, I reached the office just in time to see Foxy leaving the room. Devlin emerged from under the desk with the Fazbear head on and returned to the cameras.

"Why won't these work?" he says to himself. That caught my attention. Right away, I came over and took a look at the screen. It just gave Devlin the same static I was met with on his first night.

"Here. Let me try," I say.

With no reason to argue against it, he handed the tablet over to me. Right away, the screen started flashing between the cameras and several different images. One of them was of the face of the old Freddy Fazbear before his withered state. His eyes were wide open. The other image was of old Bonnie, also before his withered state. Only this time, rather than eyes, the screen showed two small white dots.

After flashing with another 'IT'S ME.', the screen returned to the normal feed from the cameras, revealing old Chica climbing through the right vent.

I shook my head. What even was that?

As the thoughts as to what it could be swirled in my head, I decided to move on. Chica had just arrived in the office, and old Freddy's jingle began to play somewhere down the hall. It was audible, though fairly distant.

I looked around the office. The poster in the room, just above the left vent, seemed to change. For a moment, it showed all of our old counterparts in our spots, all before their withered states, and the word 'CELEBRATE' moved to the top of the poster.

The lights in the office went out as old Chica entered, only to leave a few seconds later. As the office came back to view, the poster was back to normal, displaying all of the new animatronics, like it should

The monitors buzzed with static for a moment before something came into view on each screen. Devlin watched closely—so he could see it too. Chica also noticed what was going on.

The screens showed nothing but an image of the old Freddy Fazbear. Just his withered face, and that was all that was on the screens. Brushing it off, Devlin returned to the cameras to find old Bonnie in one of the party rooms.

Old Freddy's jingle began to grow louder. Devlin took note and grabbed the flashlight and the Fazbear head. He came from behind the desk and shone his flashlight down the hallway, revealing old Freddy. He was approaching the office, but he froze the second the light hit him.

Freddy appeared in the room through the left vent. Old Bonnie was following him closely. Freddy purposely pulled old Bonnie into the office, holding him by the lower jaw. He began struggling again and tried to pull old Bonnie out of the office.

Old Bonnie resisted as he tried to reach Devlin, who didn't have the Fazbear head on. Chica had to assist Freddy in trying to pull old Bonnie out of the room, leaving me to watch all three entrances in case someone else showed up.

Devlin quickly threw the Fazbear head on and waited until everyone disappeared into the hallway, out of sight. Old Freddy entered the room, only to wander straight back out less than a second later.

The monitors in the room powered off, leaving the same blank screens as always. Freddy and Chica both returned to the office, old Bonnie's location unknown to me. I left the office the moment they came in and headed down toward Parts & Service.

Once I reached the room, I didn't bother to wait. I entered right away and, as I expected, found it completely empty. The room was completely clear of any active animatronics, the only hints of activity in this room being the open door and scattering of parts.

"Nothing," I mutter to myself before leaving the room. On my way out, I tripped over an endoskeleton leg that had been moved to the door. Grabbing the door frame, I recovered. "Who puts that there?" I say, slightly irritated.

I decided to look around the main hallway before heading back to the office. The posters of us on the wall to the right was gone, replaced with posters of all of the old characters. Any poster that should have showed Chica now showed old Chica, and the same could be said for posters with Freddy, the Mangle, and me. All of the posters showed old Freddy, Foxy, and old Bonnie in their withered states.

A loud banging noise came from the office. Without thinking about what happened to the posters, I sprinted back down the hallway to find Foxy limping back to Parts & Service. Freddy was struggling with old Bonnie again, trying to drag him back by the lower jaw.

Devlin had the head on, patiently waiting for everyone to leave. Old Freddy's jingle died out, and the building went silent, save for all the noise from Freddy and old Bonnie.

When I entered the office, Devlin took off the head. Chica's cupcake rolled on the floor beside the flashlight's batteries. Now there was no way to see anything going on in the hallway.

Devlin set the head back down on the desk and started dragging it toward the left side of the room. "This way, I'll be able to see Foxy before he gets me," he says.

"But are you sure he'll leave if you put it on after he enters the office?" I ask.

He just shrugged. "I don't know. It's worth a try. What's the worst that could happen?"

Suddenly, old Freddy appeared in the room. Devlin only had just enough time to throw the head on. The lights in the office stayed out for a bit longer, but they did come back on eventually.

Devlin waited a bit longer than normal to take off the Fazbear head. Without a working flashlight, there would be no way to repel Foxy, thus resulting in more crashes and runs by Foxy.

He went back to viewing the cameras and tested the lights on those. They still worked. The feed showed old Freddy in the far left party room, and old Chica was in the far right party room. Freddy had managed to pull old Bonnie back to Parts & Service, and flipping to that camera, Devlin found Foxy standing in a slumped over position.

The camera went out for a split second as something moved in the room. Completely normal. When it came back into view, Foxy had left Parts & Service. A word appeared in the upper left corner of the screen, all in lowercase letters. It read 'flashlight.'

Devlin threw the tablet back onto the table, only to realize that he had no working handheld flashlight. He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in one hand before throwing on the Fazbear head and ducking under the desk, patiently waiting.

About a minute later, Foxy came running down the hallway. It seemed that he tried to turn slightly once he entered the office due to the new placement of the desk.

The second Foxy disappeared into the hallway, Devlin returned to the cameras. Gasping, he placed his hand over his mouth as his eyes suddenly grew. "Oh my God."

I quickly ran over to him and took a look at the cameras. He was viewing the party room leading to the right vent. Inside was an almost unrecognizable figure staring into the camera from the left side of the screen. "Wow," I say. "That thing is getting close." The Mangle started toward the right vent before stopping itself. The camera went to static, and once it came back to view, the Mangle was gone! Some noise came from the right vent. Devlin flipped over to that camera and reeled back.

I didn't blame him. None of us had any experience with the Mangle when it came to how he/she acted with night guards.

Freddy appeared back in the office. "What's going on?" he asks.

"We have a Mangle in the right vent," I state. Where's Chica?"

"She's in the main hallway right now. Keeping an eye on old Bonnie. But that's the least of our worries! We don't know how Mangle acts with night guards!"

Devlin flipped down the mask. "What do you say I'm supposed to do? I swear, there can't be a worse time for this to happen."

Foxy suddenly reappeared in the office and wrapped his arms around Freddy. Old Freddy's jingle began playing again, closer to the office.

"Just hold still with the mask and wait it out. We'll tell you if it's safe," says Freddy, elbowing Foxy in the lower torso. Foxy stumbled back, and Freddy grabbed both of his arms and held them behind his back. Foxy's hook dropped to the floor with a dull thud, and Freddy shoved him out of the office.

I glanced at the clock in the room. Surely, it was almost morning. This night seemed to go on forever. Its longevity was growing quite irritating, as the night guard can only take so much for six hours.

2:55.

It made me groan. How can it only be 2:55? This night was taking forever! It should at least be 4:00 by now!

But stressing over that would only make it a lot longer than it should be. I simply took note of the time and turned my attention back to Mangle in the right vent.

All of us watched as he/she crawled out of the vent into the office. He/she scaled the wall and hung from the ceiling, his/her jaw pointed down toward the back wall.

We all waited and watched it as it stayed there. Time continued to pass, boredom growing with every second. At least twenty minutes must have gone by, in which nothing appeared in the office except for Foxy.

"Is it just going to sit there?" asks Devlin.

"Looks like it," answers Freddy. "Try taking off the head."

Devlin did so, taking off the Fazbear head and placing it down on the desk. "It was starting to get hot in there," he mentions, focusing his eyes back on Mangle.

Another ten minutes passed, and nothing happened. The Mangle only shot a short glance at Devlin before going back to staring at the back wall from the ceiling. Needless to say, the Mangle made Devlin jump, but then he managed to calm down once he concluded that the Mangle wasn't going to do anything. The only noise coming from him/her was a twisted, jumbled up sound, like radio static. It was most likely the result of toddlers repeatedly taking him/her apart and putting him/her back together.

"Well, it looks like it's just going to hang there all night," I say. "I think you should get back to checking the—," Foxy crashed into the back wall, cutting me off. I ducked into the left vent and came out right away. "—cameras," I finish.

He shook his head and turned his attention back to the tablet. He found old Bonnie in the left vent and old Chica in the right vent, closing in on him rapidly. It often becomes habitual with the night guards by night three for them to put on the head right when they see one of the old animatronics in the vents.

Setting the tablet down on the floor, he swiped the Fazbear head from the desk and threw it on his head. I checked the clock as the lights in the office flickered several times. Both old Bonnie and old Chica checked on Devlin before both of them sauntered out of the office and into the hallway.

The jingle continued to play from the hallway. It hasn't grown louder since Mangle arrived in the office, and while his/her radio-like noise did drown out many of the noises coming from the hallway and vents, the faint jingle and footsteps were still audible.

Another two hours passed, in which all of the old animatronics have paid several visits to the office. With half an hour left until Devlin's shift ends, Chica appeared in the office. Upon noticing that Mangle was on the ceiling, she flinched, and Freddy had to explain to her what happened.

I watched as Devlin flipped through the cameras. He was keeping an eye on old Bonnie, who was about to enter the left vent again. As he watched the character, old Bonnie's head seemed to twitch. He seemed to have a face for a split second, and then it was gone.

I blinked several times. As Devlin lowered the tablet, he ducked under the desk and hid from Foxy. As always, he crashed into the wall. The radio static coming from Mangle grew louder. Foxy seemed to reach up for something.

The Mangle swooped down toward the back wall. Unable to stop himself/herself, he/she rammed into the wall, huge indents that one could never miss. He/she then went on to dangle from the ceiling.

"Mangle's dangling!" Chica whispers loudly so everyone in the room could hear.

Freddy glanced over to him/her and buried his face in one hand. "We'll get that fox down once the night's up. Just twenty-five more minutes! Bonnie, can you go out there and make sure Foxy doesn't run down again? I don't want this getting any worse."

I simply nodded and started out of the office. "And if Foxy does run down?" I ask.

"Then shout!" Freddy responds.

Taking one last look at Mangle, I turned around and sprinted down the hallway in search of Foxy. Old Freddy's jingle did grow louder as I closed the distance between the two of us. I found old Chica in the far right party room on my way down to Parts & Service.

I waited several minutes outside Parts & Service just to see Foxy emerge. He positioned himself at the end of the hallway, staring down at the office as usual.

"Stay 'ere, sonny," he says. I flinched upon hearing his voice. "We've got an endo t' clean up over thar."

"Oh. Yeah." I chuckled. "Can't have naked endos roaming the place at night, now, can we? I mean, the rules are the rules!"

"Aye, but he be hidin' from me every single time I run down thar!" he exclaims.

I just chuckled a bit more, realizing it's the first time Foxy has ever really spoken to anyone. But why is he doing it now? "True, true. I'm sure you'll be able to—." Foxy took off, sprinting down the hall toward the office. "Freddy! Foxy's running down!" I call out as loud as I could.

A laughter resonated in the hallway. It wasn't deep, like old Freddy's laugh—no, this one sounded like a little girl laughing. Needless to say, it astonished me, causing me to turn around right away.

Suddenly, a sea of yellow and black filled my vision as I started down to the office. I couldn't see anything in front of me, only this figure that I doubted was even real.

It seemed to let out an extremely low-pitched scream, like a child's scream pitched down to where it was unrecognizable.

It seemed to be just a floating head advancing upon me. In a way, it resembled a Freddy Fazbear head, but its colors were off—it was yellow.

I squeezed my eyes shut and reached up to them in an attempt to do something about it. The scream was probable the loudest, most deafening thing I have ever heard. I gritted my teeth, trying not to scream out loud.

The scream subsided. The thing I was seeing also faded away as the alarm in the office rang faintly, barely reaching my spot down the hallway. The lights turned on. I found myself staring up at the ceiling of the main hallway, lying down on the checkered floor.

I propped myself up with one elbow, observing everything. The last of the old animatronics returned to the room, and someone shut the door, only to have it drift open again.

Footsteps came from the dining area. I scrambled to my feet and headed off toward the office. Freddy and Chica were trying to help Mangle down from the ceiling.

Before long, they succeeded, but not without having the Mangle painfully plummet to the ground face-first.

Mike Schmidt appeared at the end of the hallway. Upon approaching us, he seemed astonished that the Mangle actually appeared in the office for once. "How was it with Mangle?" he asks.

Devlin stepped forward to answer. "Oh, a bit scary at first. Then it just sat there for a whole two and a half hours. Nothing happened to it until Foxy ran down and caused it to lose its grip. Speaking of Foxy, something went wrong with the flashlight." He handed Mike the flashlight without any batteries. "The batteries fell out."

Mike sighed. "Well, I'll see what I can do about this. But back to Mangle!"

"It lets out this weird sound," Freddy jumps in. "Like radio static or something like that. I think it's the result of a broken voice box from toddlers repeatedly taking him or her apart and putting him or her back together."

Devlin nodded. "Makes sense. By the way, is it a boy or a girl? That's something I've always wondered."

"Unknown," I answer. "I've heard people go both ways."

"Anyway," Mike jumps in, "you've still got two nights in front of you. Just go get some rest and don't come back to this building until your shift is about to start."

Devlin ran off down the hallway. As he was about to turn the corner, I started talking. "I have to tell you guys something," I say.

Mike and Freddy groaned. "Now?" they ask.

"Yes, now," I reply. "It's something I saw right before the alarm went off. I heard some little girl laughing and then right away, the loudest most deafening scream reached my ears. It was like a child screaming, only pitched much lower. Some image filled my vision—it was like a yellow Freddy Fazbear head or something. Any ideas?"

Mike bit his lip and stared. He shook his head several times, growing more worried. "No, I don't think I have anything to tell you."

We all sat there in silence. Mike grew more uneasy as each second passed.

He threw his hands up. "Alright! I'm lying! I do have to tell you that during my third night of working the night shift here I heard some laughter. It was the same as how you described it, followed by a deep, gurgled voice."

"Did you see what it was?" I ask him.

"No. the morning bell sounded right after that."

We all nodded. "At least we have something," says Chica.

"Look," says Mike. "I need to record the messages for Dev tonight. I just need time to think this 'yellow Freddy Fazbear' thing all over."

"Sure," I say, starting back down the hallway to the stage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. I just had to put an author's note here, so let's get started...
> 
> WHAT THE HELL WHY CANT I BEAT GOLDEN FREDDY ON FNAF 2 I MUST HAVE TRIED IT AT LEAST 999999999 TIMES BY NOW!11!1  
> I'M LEAVING AO3 BECAUSE I CANT BEAT THIS THING. GOODBYE FOREVER.
> 
> ...yeah, no. (But I must admit that 10/20 is the only thing I haven't beaten in the game yet)
> 
> Sorry I had to take this down right when I posted it, but now it's back up.
> 
> I revised Chapter 1, so now it's completely different.
> 
> Writing this is difficult. I'm not kidding. It's hard to try to build on each night consistently, to stay with the plan and not rush it. The only other choice is to ignore the plan and kill every night guard on their first night, and where's the fun in that?
> 
> Concerning this chapter, while it may have been a better decision for me to split it up into two chapters and include more detail, I wanted to save these last 4 chapters in Part 2 to continue building.
> 
> Honestly, I thought that Chapter 9 was a better spot to end Part 1, but I didn't end it there. I want Part 2 to find a good spot to end. Does someone really want to see a whole part end in the middle of a night?
> 
> Anyway, I've probably bored you enough already with this long chapter and long author's note. I'll see you next update!


	17. Chapter 17

The alarm in the office went off. Devlin breathed deeply. A look of relief swept over his face. "I made it," he says to himself. "I made it past night five! That was close."

The old animatronics all went limp right where they were. They didn't even return to Parts & Service. They just shut down right where they were. Old Bonnie was in the far left party room, old Chica in the right vent, and old Freddy and Foxy both in the office.

We all headed down to the dining area, Devlin leaving the Fazbear head where it was. I wondered why the old animatronics went inactive right where they were rather than returning to Parts & Service. Once we reached the tables, we found Mike entering the building in full uniform.

"Congratulations," says Mike. "Escaped the death trap that is nighttime here. Now you can go on and live a real life."

Mr. Heston came in at that exact moment, holding Devlin's paycheck in hand. The skimpy $217.50 just one step away from Devlin's fingertips. Now there was only one question looming over all of our heads.

He held a smile on his face. He handed the slip of paper to Devlin, who pored over it carefully to make sure everything was right. He grinned at Mr. Heston.

"We've got tonight open if you'd like to work for a sixth. We've had only two people take the offer so far, but… eh… yeah, from what I've heard from the reports, it didn't really end well for either of them," says Mr. Heston.

Devlin simply nodded with the paycheck in his hands and left the building without giving an answer. I guess we'll have to wait another several hours until he makes his decision.

As the day progressed, I grew increasingly worried about all of the old animatronics. Why haven't they returned to Parts & Service? Surely, someone must have dragged them back to the room by now, but I was still concerned by the fact that they just shut off right then and there.

From the stage, we had finished one of our songs. Now it's to roaming with the kids, doing who-knows-what with them. Maybe take a shot at the picture booth, maybe a quick game of air hockey will do. Maybe even a visit to Mangle will help. He/she did come close to the office on nights four and five, but never entered the office.

Every once in a while, my eyes would drift toward the main hall. It was darker than normal. Mike was somewhere down there, but from what I knew, he still had the Fazbear head in case the old animatronics somehow activated at day. Plus, if they are active, they shouldn't come to the dining area anyway.

I shot a glance at Freddy, who was in the middle of a game of air hockey with a little boy. The main hallway's door slammed shut and drifted back open a bit, which I found strange because no one has ever tried to close that door. It was so underused to the point where I forgot there was even a door there. It couldn't have been Mike—he only watched Parts & Service and recorded messages all day, never leaving the office.

A faint laugh could be heard coming from the main hallway. I barely caught onto it—it was nearly inaudible, and most parents and children did not notice it. Freddy and Chica, however, seemed to sense something was wrong. So I wasn't the only one.

Freddy seemed to freeze in place, allowing the little kid to easily score the winning goal against him. That was the least of his worries—he seemed to stare toward the main hallway. Chica's head snapped straight toward the main hallway from right outside the kitchen. Mangle was still in the cove being dismembered by toddlers.

Freddy and I moved away from the dining area toward the main hallway to isolate ourselves from the noise. The laugh sounded again, this time a bit louder. A good portion of the restaurant went quiet. The games still blasted music and sound effects, and some children still screamed and shouted as they played, but it was clear that most of the parents have fallen silent, focusing mainly on us. I didn't blame them for thinking weirdly of us—we hardly ever act this way at day.

Mr. Heston came out of his office to find out what was going on. Silence was something completely alien to the restaurant at day, so he must have noticed the sudden hush of all the voices in the building.

Peering into the main hallway through the little slit, I found two glowing white dots in one of the rooms on the right. Old Freddy's laugh sounded. A faint garbled voice could also be heard from the hallway. My theory was correct.

"What's happening?" asks a parent. "Why are they suddenly acting so weird?"

Darian came over, this being the first time I've actually seen him—the only day guard we really interact with is Mike, and the others have a separate office and often exchanged no words with us when they were starting or ending their shifts.

He held a flashlight in hand, along with several keys. I snatched the flashlight the second it caught my eye. I pointed it into the hallway and flickered the thing for a brief moment. After turning it off from what was down there, I turned to Freddy.

"Should we go?" I ask him, glancing at Mr. Heston.

Freddy looked out at the sea of children and parents who were watching them closely. "Just you and Chica. I have to stay out here for all of them. Mangle can't handle this whole crowd on his or her own."

"I understand." I gestured toward Chica, who was watching from the far end of the dining area. She came over, and I explained to her what Freddy had just said to me.

"Let's go then," she says, holding the door open just wide enough so we could fit in. I entered first, and she followed closely.

"We are so sorry for the inconvenience," says Freddy as he turned to address the crowd of parents and children. The door slammed shut, drowning out his voice. From the other side we heard a click. Darian locked us in. Freddy continued talking, his voice now incomprehensible from the other side of the door.

I held the flashlight like a lifeline. If the lights were out, then this thing would be our only source of light from now until whenever this stops.

Turning the corner to face the office through the long hallway, I found that a good portion of the lights had been knocked out. Much of the far left and right party rooms were dark, along with the portion of the hallway closest to the office, but other than that, all of the lights were on.

Both of us rushed down the hallway, listening to old Freddy's jingle. Upon reaching the office, I bumped straight into old Bonnie, who was looking down at Mike. Mike had the Fazbear head on.

Once old Bonnie left, he quickly took it off his face. "What's this supposed to be? They're walking around during day, this is not supposed to happen!" he exclaims.

"Look, we don't know what's going on either," says Chica. "We're playing with the kids, and then we see old Freddy in the hallway. Suddenly, we're here."

"We, I'm fleeing the office!" exclaims Mike, throwing the tablet aside. I shone the flashlight down the hall to reveal foxy running down to the office. He skidded to a halt and turned back.

After seeing him turn back, I instantly argued against having Mike leave the office. "It's not safe! There's really no way to get you through two hallways and a locked door, even if you do have a key, and—,"

He just stared at me blankly, snatching the flashlight out of my hands. "There's no way I'm stopping you, is there?" I ask.

"Nope."

"Sorry. Just acting too much like Freddy because he has to stay out there for the kids," I say. "So I guess you should just run through the hallway with the head on and I," I took the flashlight back, "will use the flashlight to repel Foxy if he ever goes after you once we're at the door, however, you'll have to take off the head so you can actually see and unlock the door. There's no way Darian will unlock that thing for us."

Mike grumbled. "Fine. Works for me."

Old Chica entered the office and left upon seeing that Mike already had the Fazbear head on. The second she disappeared, Mike took off out of the office and started down the hallway. Chica and I followed closely, keeping an eye out for any animatronics that could come near him (other than us, of course).

We turned the corner, and Foxy was the first to notice us. He was the first to make a move toward us, and I quickly replied by focusing the flashlight on him. He froze upon having the beam meet with his face, allowing Mike to reach the end of the hallway. He threw off the Fazbear head and reached for his keys.

All the other old animatronics rounded the corner the moment he found the right key. There was no way the two of us could hold them off entirely, but there was a chance that we could delay them. "Just ignore what's going on here," I tell Mike.

He continued with the lock, trying to insert the key into the hole. By the time he succeeded, old Freddy already advanced upon us, forcing Chica to hold him off. That left me with the other two and Foxy. Trying to hold them off while keeping the light on Foxy would be difficult.

Mike fumbled with the keys as he tried to turn it. I had only one free hand to keep old Chica from reaching Mike—Chica managed to break one hand loose and latch onto old Bonnie while still keeping old Freddy at bay.

I listened carefully for the click over old Freddy's loud jingle. Old Chica knocked the flashlight aside, meaning old Foxy can run down this way at any moment now. I watched him, seeing that he hasn't begun to move yet.

"Almost," says Mike. Chica shoved old Bonnie into one of the rooms to the side. Unfortunately, it had no door, meaning that old Bonnie can come out whenever he pleases.

Mike continued struggling with the lock, trying to turn the key. Old Chica passed by me, and I had to pull her back away from Mike.

Before Mike was even finished, a click sounded from the door. It opened and pulled him into the dining area. Noticing it, Chica also dashed for the door and succeeded.

I started toward the door. As I was about inches from it, I looked back to find Foxy running straight down the hallway toward me.

Something pulled me through the doorway. The door slammed shut, and a loud bang came from the other side. It went on for a few more seconds before Foxy eventually gave up. All noises coming from the other side subsided.

"Mike!" calls out Freddy as he came over.

Mike couldn't help but crack a fake smile as much of the crowd of parents stared at him. "Not now," he says, directing his voice to Freddy as he keeps his eyes focused on the parents.

Freddy nodded, turning back to the crowd. "Once again, we are sorry for all the inconvenience," he announces before taking us backstage. He dropped off Mike near Darian's office.

Once we were backstage and the door was closed, he was the first to start speaking. He spoke loudly, but not loud enough where someone on the other end could hear us. "Daytime. We've got a daytime incident to solve now. It's not like night wasn't already bad enough."

"Well, maybe this can work toward getting everything right. Perhaps there was a reason?" I suggest.

"No! I don't really see a reason for us to have mindless killers wandering around a building made for kids. If—,"

"Hold on, Freddy," Chica jumps in, interrupting him. "Bonnie might be onto something."

He grumbled. "Fine. Talk away."

"When are you ever like this?" I ask. "Whatever. What I'm saying is that the time of day has nothing to do with when those animatronics area active. If there's a night guard there, or if there's someone to hunt, they're going to be out for that person, day or night."

"And how's Mike?" he asks.

"Fine, as far as I can see. He's got experience, so it does make sense that he was able to escape so easily. If you want to talk to him, then go talk to him."

"Then I will." Freddy left the room, still not very pleased about what was going on in the main hallway. I didn't blame him for the frustration.

That left me backstage with Chica. I glanced at her, and she just shrugged, not knowing why Freddy seemed so stressed now.

Looking through the dining area at the main hallway door, one thing was for sure. At first, Parts & Service was the only room that really proved to be dangerous, and that was only at night.

Now, about half the building is a danger zone at all times.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bleh chapter is bleh.
> 
> Also, after running through how I described the building in the earlier chapters, I found that the building in this thing is quite different from the one in the second game. The camera template for the building can be seen above.
> 
> 1\. The entire building from the main hallway to the office has been rotated 90 degrees clockwise.  
> 2\. There are four added areas on the right (Restrooms (CAM 16), Game Area (CAM 11), Kitchen (CAM 17), and Extra Rooms (CAM 18))  
> 3\. Added backstage that leads to the show stage  
> 4\. No Prize Corner due to the lack of Puppet in this story. Prizes are instead handed out at the front desk (CAM 14)  
> 5\. Back exit (CAM 15) that so far, has only served a purpose in the revised Chapter 1  
> 6\. Kid's Cove moved to the right slightly in order to make room for the front entrance  
> 7\. Balloon Boy's absence in this story was one of my reasons for giving the game area its own separate room


	18. Chapter 18

The rest of the day passed, and the main hallway door remained untouched. No one even approached it, and while we did get a glance from a parent ever now and then as we roamed the building, they would simply continue to mingle with their peers after a few seconds.

I continued a game of air hockey with a little boy. More often, my eyes would drift to that locked door. It was probably going to stay locked forever, considering everything that's happened today. It would be a miracle if they decide to allow someone to enter sometime within the next week or two.

As the game continued, a smirk seemed to sprout from the boy's face. It grew wider and wider, and I wondered why he was smiling. Maybe it was because he was about to win.

"Peanut butter," says a voice from behind me. I jumped and lifted my mallet off the table, allowing the boy to score his winning goal on me. I was losing on purpose anyway, so I wasn't very upset about him winning. What I was upset about was him winning to a distraction.

"Oh, come on!" I say, keeping up the act in front of him. "I could've won if this guy didn't sneak up behind me!" I pointed at Freddy, who was directly behind me.

"Please, Bonnie! Cheer up!" exclaims Freddy, wearing a smile on his face.

I scoffed. "I thought I would have to tell you that," I mumble. I turned to the boy. "Anyway, that was a great game. You did very well."

He smiled. "Thanks! I'll see you guys later!" he says before hurrying off to meet with the rest of his party. As he left the game area, I turned back to Freddy and scowled.

"Peanut butter?" I question him. "Where did you get that from? Is that what I can say now that will make you laugh every time?"

Freddy just chuckled. "Think of something completely random, and say it out loud. That's how you come up with things like that."

"Whatever." I wandered off back to the dining area and paid a visit to Mangle. It was a new Mangle every time we visited him/her. The toddlers always had their hands on multiple body parts. There was a hand where the neck should have been, and the head was where one of the hands should have been. I myself wondered how the thing still worked.

No news from Mangle. Only one good thing came from him/her, and that was the fact that he/she still worked. We wouldn't have to worry until something goes horribly wrong with this character.

The sun began to set outside, and families began to leave the building. No one brought up the incident earlier today—we were all hiding the truth from them. As far as what they knew went, we had informed them that something had gone wrong in Parts & Service and we had to resolve it.

Tonight would be a night six, should Devlin ever show up on the premises. Chances are he won't—he seemed to have been quite in a hurry to leave when he received his paycheck this morning. To add to that, who would want to fight a tougher night in which one couldn't even access to office? It was too risky to open the main hallway door with the old animatronics possibly still active.

Mike left the building earlier than normal, right when the doors locked the public outside. As I watched him step into his car, I noticed something else pulling into the parking lot. A figure emerged from the vehicle—Devlin. "What in the world is he doing here?" I say, allowing the words to slip out.

Freddy rushed over and saw what was going on outside. Mike drove off, and so did the other vehicle. Devlin entered the building and right away, he noticed that the main hallway door was locked. He glanced over to us and pointed at it, confused.

"Daytime incident," Freddy says briefly before raising his voice suddenly. "Why did you take the sixth?" he almost shouts.

"I have my reasons," says Devlin, crossing his arms. He noticed the Fazbear head, two flashlights, and a camera tablet on one of the dining tables. Mike must have dropped them off on his way out. "Don't tell me. Oh, I'm going to have to do it from here."

I glanced at the clock. There were still two hours until midnight. Devlin was truly insane for making the decision to even attempt this night, and with the continuous ramp-up in the difficulty that has happened for his first five nights, I can expect tonight to be close to impossible if the old ones get through the door.

Maybe that's just what we had to hope for. Maybe the door can hold out for a whole six hours. Yet again, knowing how quickly they broke the door to Parts & Service, I doubted that would be the case.

Devlin pulled a chair from a dining table and slumped in the seat, propping his feet up on the white sheets on the table. The camera tablet rested closed in his lap, while the Freddy head and flashlights lay on the table next to his shoes.

The janitors ignored him as they continued to sweep through the spots they could access in the building. Like normal, they left as the clock was about to strike midnight.

Once the two hands did line up perfectly, the lights in the dining room went out completely. There was no light whatsoever—the only thing visible was the night outside.

A soft vibrating noise came from Devlin. The inside of his pocket lit up. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone, and I saw that Mike was calling him. He promptly answered the call and set it to speaker so everyone could hear.

"Hello, Devlin?" says Mike. "What— what on Earth are you doing there? I truly thought you would have never come back. Look, I know you can't be in your office right now. Heh, you're probably in the worst place one could ever be at night.

"Whatever. No more fooling around for now," says Mike, his voice shifting to a more serious tone. "The reason you're there is because, well, the old ones haven't been acting right at all today. They came after me earlier. I escaped only through experience and some assistance from these animatronics standing beside you. Heck, we really need to pay them to guard the guards.

"But I just have to say that none of the old ones are acting right. You probably noticed this morning that they didn't return to Parts & Service. That's exactly what I was talking about. Sometime earlier today, they just suddenly sprung to life and came after me.

"Enough of my personal story, and onto what you have to do for tonight. Right now, you probably can't see a thing. You'll have to use that flashlight for the entirety of the night, so that's why we gave you two of them. Just keep an eye on the main hallway. Should the door ever break, then just hold a light on that spot. It might not do much, though it should help with knowing whenever someone's coming.

"But the main problem with working there is having to watch in all directions. They can all be behind you, in front of you, heck, even above you if you don't keep an eye out for them in the pitch blackness.

"Just finish your shift. I know that the exit's right there, but it's still safer for everyone to have you finish your shift before leaving. Okay? I'll talk to you in the morning."

Devlin had just realized it wasn't a recording and took a deep breath to speak, only to hear a beep from his phone. He dropped it on his lap. "Well, that's just great. I still have a few things to ask, but I guess we're going now."

He turned on the flashlight and shone it at the main hallway door. Nothing. I watched the beam of light travel around the room, stopping on the show stage to reveal a floating yellow head. It was translucent, the apparition staring at us with those empty eyes. I ducked and squeezed my eyes shut, turning away from the figure. Devlin quickly turned off the flashlight and went to the tablet.

His phone vibrated again on his lap. He groaned, setting the tablet back down on the table. "Who would call me at this time of night?" He peered at his phone. "And it's not even someone I'm acquainted with!"

He answered and placed the thing on speaker once again. "Hello?" asks Devlin.

We were only met with a jumble of sounds from the other end. It seemed to be a mixture of garbled voices pitched extremely low. It wasn't Mangle—it was too low to be Mangle.

We all stood frozen as we listened to the voice. It cut off with a screech before continuing again. It took us nowhere, just to dead ends as we tried to comprehend it. There was nothing special.

A loud screech came from the other end, and it cut off. The call ended, leaving all of us standing there, bewildered. It was incomprehensible, we all knew that. What it was or why it was there was the question.

A small click sounded from the main hallway door. Devlin grabbed a flashlight from the desk and flashed it at the door. More clicks came. A figure faded into view in front of the door. The same face I saw on night three—the yellow face was unmistakable.

"Everyone still here?" says Devlin. He moved around erratically, finding all three of us at the stage. I sat on the floorboard, my legs dangling over the dining area carpet.

Another click from the main hallway door. Devlin moved his flashlight to get a view of it, and it was ajar. Devlin grabbed the Fazbear head from the table and started toward the door, holding his flashlight on the opening.

As he approached the open doorway, Freddy decided to take the other flashlight and step in front of Devlin. Without even acknowledging him, Freddy turned and entered through the doorway.

Mangle's radio static approached us slowly. The mutilated fox was approaching quietly, but his/her condition didn't help anyone with that. We could hear him/her coming before he/she even left kid's cove.

Old Freddy's jingle started playing in the hallway. I kept my eyes focused on the single beam of light that was floating around the building. After Devlin's brief inspection of the dining area, he focused his light back on the main hallway. Almost instantly, he jumped back and threw on the head.

"It's me," a deep, ominous voice whispers. It sounded closer to a soft growl. I looked up to find nothing—nothing in all directions except for Devlin backing away from something. Chica didn't notice it—she continued to hold still beside me. "You can't."

Those two two-word sentences. I never understood what they meant, who this 'me' is and what it is that I 'can't' do.

"And all of them shall know…" the voice seemed to fade away into nothingness.

Out of nowhere, images seemed to flash across my vision. One was of Mike in some sort of office, the one that I keep seeing when I black out. Another image, one from outside the office, gave me the same mysterious thing that I kept seeing. "Get the hell out of my office!" Mike's voice plays in my head. He seemed to say something after that, but I received it as nothing but a garbled voice.

"And all of them shall…" the voice tries to say again, but it faded away once again. The same images flashed in front of me, and old Freddy's jingle grew louder. I tried to squeeze my eyes shut and ducked down, wanting to crawl under the carpet. I tried my best to resist screaming. The garbled voice seemed to be right behind me now.

"Know the…" the voice tried to continue. I twitched several times. Freddy rushed over and opened Devlin's camera tablet, only to be met with static. He focused the flashlight on me.

"Uh… Bonnie?" he starts.

"Joy of…" the voice in my head continues. I gritted my teeth.

I tried to turn my head to Devlin, finding him searching for something in the dining area. He turned around with the flashlight to find old Freddy creeping up toward him. Devlin fell backward with the Fazbear head, trying to throw it on as quickly as possible. Chica sprang into action and placed herself in between the two.

"Bonnie!" Freddy calls out.

"Creation!" the voice finishes. Something snapped and I lurched forward toward Devlin, falling into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm planning for a sequel! For those of you who don't want a sequel, don't worry. I will still end this in such a way that the sequel is an option.
> 
> The sequel will feature the introductions of Balloon Boy and the Puppet, as well as THREE OC/FC animatronics. For those with suggestions, send them to me in the comments. Keep in mind that you are competing against all my readers on Fanfiction.net, DeviantART, and Quotev for this! When it comes to naming the animatronic, make sure the name is alliterative. For example, if I had a giraffe animatronic (who wants that?), then the name will be: '[Insert a name that starts with 'G' here, such as 'George'] the Giraffe'.


	19. Chapter 19

I stared at the guard inside his office. Both Freddy and Chica stood beside him, and Foxy was peeking through the doorway, ready to jump in should anything go wrong. I stared at the guard blankly, trying to read the anxiety he wore in his facial expression.

"I can trust you guys, right? All four of you?" asks the guard. Freddy, Chica, and Foxy all nodded in reply. I only continued to stare at him blankly.

As I continued to focus my eyes on him, a voice began to play in my head. "It's me."

"Uh… Bonnie?" starts Freddy. "What are you doing?" He stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the guard. I simply moved around him to see the guard in his chair. He had gone back to the cameras.

I twitched several times, stepping forward and reaching out for him, my hand only inches from his face.

Then I went for it. I grabbed the guard, and that very moment, both doors slammed shut. The guard attempted to fight back against my grip, but to no avail. I dragged him over to the east door and slammed the button, falling outside into the hallway. The guard kept struggling, trying to kick me in order to break free.

Of course, he was able to get nowhere. Both Freddy and Chica rushed over to us. Freddy began pulling me away from him, but I held my grip. Chica attempted to pull the guard away from me. It was clear that they didn't want this guard in a suit.

"But why?" I say. "Why block out the joy of creation?" I ask them curiously, still trying to pull the guard backstage. His screams, oh his obnoxious screams, could possibly be heard all around the building. They grew louder and louder as I continued to struggle under Freddy's grip, slowly but surely making progress to the back room.

Something rammed into me from the side. Foxy had run down here and tried to break the guard free from my grip. It disoriented me for a moment, allowing the guard to scramble away and make a mad dash for the door.

He wasn't fast enough. I knew I was faster than him, that no matter how hard he would try, he wouldn't be able to escape the building.

Grabbing his collar, I pulled him away from the door as he was about to reach for the handle. Freddy tried to pull me back, trying to loosen my grip on his collar. Fortunately, I was able to maintain my grip, and he only managed to pull the two of us away from the door.

We all stumbled back, and I lost my grip on the guard. I landed on top of Freddy, while the guard landed flat on his back next to me. Before either of them could recover, I grabbed the guard from the carpet and continued carrying him toward the back room.

Chica appeared near the cove, sprinting for the two of us. She closed the distance and tried the same thing as Freddy, trying to pull me away from the guard toward the office.

"Bonnie! Get a hold of yourself!" she yells at me. The guard continued to try to wiggle himself free. I resisted Chica's pull, still focusing on the back room. Right now, all of us are in the dining area.

"But I'm so close!" I say, reaching for the handle of the door to the back room.

"Close is not what you want!" she continues to yell, continuing to pull. I struggled to hold onto his collar, and I could expect it to give way at any second and tear his shirt apart. "Get him away from that back room!"

I ignored her completely. I was supposed to take him to the back room, just like always. Out of the corner of my eye, in the dim light of the dining area, I spotted Freddy holding a chair in his hands. He was sprinting as fast as he could with the thing, ready to bring it down on anyone who gets in between him and the guard.

He tossed the chair at us, and it grazed my arm before crashing into the wall. Freddy backed off after seeing the ruined chair and scratches on the wall. No more damage to the building.

Chica's fingers slipped, allowing me to break free from her grip. Instantly turning back to the back room with the guard, I reached out for the door knob. The cold brass meeting my fingertips after about a second of groping for it.

Foxy sprinted down toward the two of us. I pushed the door open. It flung inward and I entered, Foxy zooming straight past the two of us. I quickly slammed the door shut before anyone else could come close.

The suit was right there, already prepared on the table for use. I ran a quick inspection, checking the mask for any frayed wires. Nothing was out of the ordinary, so I turned back to the guard.

He was clawing at the door, but couldn't seem to grab the handle. Blood dripped from his hands, and his nose didn't look so pretty either, coated with dark red.

The door burst open, and in came Freddy and Chica. I grabbed the guard and pulled him further into the room, placing myself in between them and him. They were still trying the same thing—they were still trying to yank him free from my grasp, despite knowing that it hasn't worked the last two times.

"Bonnie! Get a hold of yourself!" yells Freddy, his voice barely audible over the guard's screaming. He covered my face with his hands, but I knew that I still was still carrying the guard.

Chica still tried to pull him free from me. My hands seemed to slip a bit as I struggled to maintain my grip, but I managed to recover quickly before she could capitalize. I fell to the ground, taking the guard down with me.

The suit's leg hung right above me. I caught a glimpse of it through Freddy's fingers. Using one hand, I reached up for the suit and pulled it down. It collapsed on the floor, the small seam between the head and body already opened. I let go of it and tried to pull the guard to the suit.

Foxy ran straight into the room without any warning and tried to shove me away from the suit. Well, he really tried to drag the suit away from me, pillaging the room and focusing mainly on the suit.

I heard a loud grunt. It didn't sound like Freddy, or Chica, or Foxy. It was evident they didn't hear it—they didn't react at all. "Come on!" says the same voice.

A figure suddenly appeared in front of me. It resembled me a lot, though the figure was a bit more tattered and run down. I couldn't even see the face. Its hand reached out for me and grabbed my face, letting out a deafening screech that would repeatedly play in one's head for years.

* * *

I regained myself in a dark room, illuminated only by a single flashlight beam. I was lying on the ground, and I felt something on both of my hands. Whatever it was, it was sticky.

When I came to attention, I found both Freddy and Chica trying to pull Devlin away from me. I stumbled back and slammed against the wall that I didn't know was right behind me. I looked up to find the names inscribed on the walls, memorializing every night guard who failed to make it out alive.

Turning my head, I saw Mangle in the hallway. He/she was dragging the Freddy Fazbear suit away from the room to the best of his/her abilities.

Then I went back to my hands. The sticky substance on my fingers was colored a dark red, matching the liquid that ran down from Devlin's nose. It wasn't going pretty for him, and it didn't look like anything could be done at the moment. It continued to drip on the checkered floor, gleaming under the flashlight.

It didn't take me long to put two and two together. His blood on my hands? Heck, I should have figured it out the moment I felt blood on my hands.

The wave of guilt struck me, sending me into panic. I just wanted to curl up in the corner and never be seen again. From what had just happened, there's no way I could go back out there. If I'm going to be trying to kill mindlessly, then what good am I for such a company whose intention is to bring joy to children?

Maybe it can't happen at day. As far as I knew, Devlin's sixth night was still going. I've never blacked out at day, though the fact that the old animatronics were active earlier at day seemed to be enough to prove to me that anything can happen, no matter what time it is.

I looked back up at the names, barely visible in the dying light. How many have I killed? I've blacked out every single time, but this one time, everything I saw seemed to play out here as well. If that was true every single time, I've probably killed about… what, fifteen of them.

It was overwhelming. I could hear someone crying in the room—most likely it was Devlin. Blindly, I tried to navigate my way to the back of the room, as far from that main hallway as possible. I don't deserve to be out there.

I tripped over something. It felt like an animatronic leg. It wasn't naked—I could feel a costume on this one.

Freddy still had a flashlight in his hands. He flashed it at me for a brief moment, revealing the agglomeration of wires that was what was left of old Bonnie's face. It took me by surprise, and I stumbled back.

"Bonnie?" asks Freddy. I heard several footsteps coming toward me, and a hand on my shoulder. "Bonnie, you okay?"

I wanted to cry. I'm a killer! There's no other explanation! "I don't deserve to be out there again," I say.

"Of course you deserve to be out there again!" says Freddy, tapping my shoulder several times. He shone the flashlight on my hands to reveal Devlin's blood. "You didn't know what you were doing. Look. We'll get you cleaned up, and we can get you ready for the day."

"The day? Isn't there still a night for Devlin to finish?" I question him.

"All of the old ones deactivated a while ago. I'm not so sure why, but at least we can get something done tonight with what we have," says Freddy. I listened as rapidly moving feet echoed from the main hallway, dying off gradually. "There goes Devlin fleeing in the middle of his shift. See, if you're so afraid of hurting someone, just know that it's impossible when no one's here. Sure, there's us, but we can be fixed in the blink of an eye. That's not the same for people."

I shook my head, still trying to get over the facts. I listened to every word Freddy said, of course, but it took a while for them to sink in.

Slowly, with caution, I stood up and started out of the room. Still, I could faintly hear the garbled voice in my head playing over and over, failing to send me any message. "It's still there," I tell him.

Freddy just nodded. "Just don't listen to it. Shut it out and you might be able to handle yourself."

I tried my best to agree with him. "Can I at least get looked at back here before the day starts? No, no, in fact, I want to sit out the day and have them work on me."

Freddy thought for a moment. One bot down for an entire day wasn't the best idea out there. "You can't! You're meant to be out there, to bring joy to children."

Joy. That word will always stick to me. 'The joy of creation' it was called. Another thing no one could possibly make sense of. No one but the one who sent every other incomprehensible message, at least. "But I don't want anything to go wrong. I don't want you or Chica or Mangle to be punished because something went wrong with me. It's best we take the safe route and have them work on me for the day."

Freddy just shook his head and frowned. "Fine. But first, let's get you cleaned up."

He helped me out of the room. When I reached the door, I glanced back at old Bonnie, who hasn't made any noise since he mysteriously popped up there. What did they do to deserve something like this?

"We can be fixed in the blink of an eye, Freddy just said," I whisper to myself, my voice too soft for anyone to comprehend. "So perhaps they can too."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah. Short chapters! I've been trying to make my chapters at least 2.5K words recently, but with the exception of Chapter 16, they've all come up short.
> 
> I'm taking animatronic suggestions for the sequel! If you missed my note last chapter, know that this sequel is an option. For those with suggestions, remember that you are competing with readers from DeviantART, Quotev, and Fanfiction.net for this! I will take up to 3 suggestions from this site. All of them are open, so send me your characters soon if you would like them to appear in the sequel! You can send them to me in the comments. Please, one entry per person.


	20. Chapter 20

As I sauntered back to Parts & Service with my head drooping, I began to wonder about the old animatronics. The clock then struck six, but with no night guard present at the moment, there was no night guard present, so the buzzing of the alarm had no relevant meaning. It was just a noise that gave us an update on the time.

Kicking the Fazbear head aside—it had rolled outside the Parts & Service room—I heard the front door open and the sound of three voices, all recognizable, coming from the dining area. Mike Schmidt shouted, and it wasn't long until I heard the sound of footsteps rushing toward me.

"Mike!" calls out Freddy, trying to reach him. I was about to collapse in Parts & Service before Mike grabbed my arm and spun me around.

He saw my face, he saw the mood I was in, and he pulled back right away. He scanned the room for the Fazbear suit, but found that the only entities in the room were the old animatronics. Glancing back out upon hearing Mangle's radio static, he began to creep toward the noise.

After about a minute, he came back into the room. "Why so down today? There is nothing in that suit!" says Mike. "I thought you of all of them would be overjoyed to see someone get past night six, even if he did probably flee the night."

"Mike," Freddy says again, appearing in the main hallway. "I don't think that's such a great—,"

Mike just waved his hand and cut him off. "You said yourself that night six victims were the worst. You're not at all enthusiastic about a night six survivor," he continues.

"Mike!" Freddy's voice had almost raised to a shout. I leaned back against the wall next to old Bonnie and slid down, sitting with my knees up. Looking up, I found Freddy trying to pull Mike out of the room.

Once both of them were outside, the door slammed shut. But it was broken, so it drifted open slightly to allow a bit of light from outside to seep in. From my spot, I could hear both Freddy and Mike conversing.

"He's not in such a good mood today," says Freddy, trying to guide Mike away.

"No kidding," replies Mike.

"No. It's something worse than that. I don't think it's a great idea to talk about it right now," Freddy insists. "Look. Let's go to a place where he can't hear us. I don't think he wants to be reminded about it again."

Mike sighed. "Fine."

Their footsteps died in the hallway, leaving me sitting in complete and utter silence. Knowing that the rules are no more, I was expecting at least one of the old animatronics to move. However, not one of them budged from their spots, as I could see from the inadequate light in this room.

Soon, after several minutes of simply waiting, Freddy came in to check on me. "Shut me down," I tell him, reaching behind my head with my right hand. "I'm guessing you know how."

He stood over me and reached behind my head. I moved my hand out of the way. I didn't move an inch, and soon the world went dark.

* * *

I came to attention a while later. They must have been in here for hours. It wasn't dark yet—the whole day hasn't passed yet. I could hear all the voices of children outside. It was unmistakable.

The room was completely empty. It was lit up entirely this time. There was nothing except me, the scattered parts along the floor, and the empty Freddy Fazbear costume. All of the old animatronics were nowhere to be seen.

I sat up in the middle of the room, continuing to observe everything. The door was still broken, and I guessed that the main hallway door was shut—the upbeat noises coming from the dining area barely reached me.

Slowly, frugally, I rose to my feet and crept toward the door. The clanking of metal hitting the floor could be heard throughout the room, even though I was the only one in here. My own footsteps.

Once I was out of the room, I looked down toward the office. All the lights in the hallway provided me with a clear view of everything that was going on, and as of right now, the answer seemed to be nothing. The entire west side of the building was at a standstill.

I heard several murmurs coming from one of the party rooms. Trying to remain as silent as possible, I crept over to where I heard the noise coming from, though it was impossible to keep quiet—my footsteps were quite loud as I approached them.

Grabbing the door frame of the party room, I peeked inside. It wasn't long after I was able to catch a mere glimpse of old Bonnie, old Chica, and Foxy inside all with their backs turned until old Freddy appeared right in front of me, taking me down to the ground.

Staring at his eyes, I saw that he was mostly expressionless. Most of the tears in his costume had disappeared since our last meeting, which I found strange because no one would ever touch the old ones anymore. Who would go as far as repairing them?

"Freddy!" a voice calls from inside the party room.

"Are you or are you not under him right now?" old Freddy interrogates me quickly, holding a fist in the air.

"What?" I shout back. "Under who? I just woke up!"

He relaxed a bit, but he didn't allow me to get up. Keeping me pinned to the ground, he motioned for everyone else to come over.

Soon they were all standing over me. The first thing I noticed about all of them was that there was not even a scratch visible on their costumes. Everything had been cleaned. Old Chica actually had functional hands. Old Bonnie actually had a face and his left arm. Hopefully, he can speak now. Foxy's lower jaw no longer just hung there; it actually moved like everyone else's. It had also been reshaped slightly. His endoskeleton was no longer visible at the torso, though a few tears in his pants still remained, possibly to maintain the 'pirate' tone the character was built for.

Foxy came over, pushing old Freddy aside. He offered me his left hand. I took it, and he pulled me up. "Ye' be fine, matey."

Huh. I wondered why they're suddenly acting like the child entertainers they used to be—that was long gone, their project discarded years ago in favor of us.

They didn't look or act anything like they usually did. Looking at them, I found that it was nearly impossible to think of them as the mindless mechanical menaces many have learned to believe they were. In a way, it included me, but I tried my best to keep myself out of the picture.

The noises, the music from the dining area began to die off. I guessed the doors were about to close for the night. That wasn't the main focus though. The main focus was the old animatronics.

"Why?" I ask them. "Why did you guys do it?"

None of them spoke up to reply. Thinking over it for a moment, I scoffed at my previous statement, thinking the answer was obvious. "Why did I even ask you guys that question?" I say, directing my voice to no one in particular as I grabbed a seat in the party room. "The answer is obvious. You guys didn't see night guards as humans. Naked endos. You guys each night making sure no rules were broken. If there's any other—,"

"We didn't," says old Freddy.

I blinked several times, astounded from being interrupted. "Pardon me?"

"I'm sorry. Perhaps I wasn't being clear enough," he says bluntly. "I said that we never saw any of those guards as naked endos. I mean, the night guard's disappeared suspiciously many times with an animatronic taking its place, but no naked endos."

I stared at him, eyes widened. "All of that just makes it worse if you're telling the truth! Foxy—,"

"Mislead you," interrupts old Freddy. "Merely to put you and all the others under the impression that we believe night guards are endos without suits."

"But why mislead us?" I ask curiously. "And to be completely honest, you really sound like you're lying."

Old Freddy nodded. "Yeah, it really does. I'll just tell you everything from the start."

"Sure." I prepared for a lengthy explanation.

Old Freddy sighed. "When the old location closed down, we thought the place was done for sure. Then when we found out that we were getting retrofitted with something new, I thought there was some hope for another chance. We all did. Then we later came to realize that we were to be replaced. Of all the things, they had to choose the worst possible fate for us four!"

I nodded as I listened closely to everything he said. "I can guess that what happened next wasn't so pretty."

"Right," says old Freddy. "I was furious. Boling with hate over the new designs. They threw us all into the back room and now use us only for parts. Poor Bonnie was never the same since then. He's still like that to this day." He glanced over to old Bonnie, who had his head down. For the first time, I was able to catch a glimpse of his red eyes. It wasn't for long, as old Freddy was quick to continue.

"Then someone—or something—rolled around one night," says old Freddy. "He claimed to have been in the old location, despite us never finding him. Probably a scrapped project or something. But that night, some apparition appeared in the back room as a mangled costume, closely resembling mine. And when I say closely, I mean really close. He was pretty much me, but uh… yellow."

The realization hit me. They had seen it too! A glimmer of encouragement reached me from afar. "So that means I'm not insane! That this yellow Freddy Fazbear thing is real!" I exclaim, almost jumping out of my seat. "Oh, this fixes," I noticed everyone in the room staring at me strangely, "a lot of things. Just continue."

"He—we simply just refer to him as 'Gold'—claimed that the reason the old place closed down was because of all the incidents at the location. The Missing Children Incident. The Bite of '87. Both cases have been solved, believe me, but they were the two main reasons the place closed down, aside from poor sanitation.

"So he proposed to us that if such similar incidents happen in this building, the place will close down again and the replacements will be scrapped. Of course, as you can see now, that's not the case. This place is still going strong.

"Knowing there was no better option, of course, we listened to him, and we did as he said once the new place opened up by killing the guard. Of course, it was quite difficult with all the replacements babysitting him, but we managed. We left you guys alone because he told us that if the company found out that you guys kept breaking down spontaneously each night, they would turn to us and tear us apart.

"Soon, after about four months or so, I realized we weren't getting anywhere. But it was too late. Gold already had all four of us within his grasp, and he didn't hesitate to seize us when he realized we were starting to drift away from him. Us realizing that it didn't get us anywhere is part of the reason this place went three whole weeks without a tragedy."

"Huh," I comment. "So I guess I didn't kill so many guards. It really helps to know that."

"Then he just took hold of us. He grabbed the strings, and we became merely his puppets. He showed no mercy to the past two night guards, Richard and Devlin, and pushed us much further than we ever dared. Richard, I was impressed with how long he lasted, but Devlin. Oh, poor Devlin. I'll feel sorry for him for years to come.

"We didn't know what we were doing. Completely unaware of what was going on when he had control of us for those couple of weeks.

"Then, last night, I could feel a bit of awareness returning. I barely saw what was going on. I remember seeing you on the ground, holding your head and gritting your teeth. Then you seemed to lunge at the night guard and completely collapsed. And that's when it all came back, to all of us.

"We didn't know what to do, so we just simply returned to Parts & Service in the midst of all the screaming. No one could see a thing. I only caught a glimpse of—,"

I raised my hand to stop him. "Don't remind me. I think I've had enough. I don't want to know what I looked like when I had him. I feel horrible when I even think about it."

Old Chica intervened. "Now, don't worry too much about it! You'll be fine if you don't think about it."

I couldn't help but crack a smile. Every negative impression I had of the old generation seemed to have disappeared at this point. "I guess I should take back everything I've said about you guys," I say, trying to keep my eyes off old Bonnie.

Freddy turned his chair to face old Bonnie. "What about you?" he asks. "You haven't spoken since they tore your face off. I lost count on how long it's been since that happened. All I know is that it was an incredibly long time ago."

Old Bonnie just went on to shake his head. He shrugged, and his jaw did not move a single bit. It was clear to everyone that he didn't want to speak.

"Yarr! I'll find that scallywag and tear out his very soul! Tha' is, if he's got one," shouts out Foxy.

The main hallway door opened, and we could hear several footsteps headed toward us. Freddy appeared in the doorway and jumped back upon seeing the old animatronics fully repaired, raising his arms for a fight.

Old Freddy lunged forward, and hell seemed to break loose in the small room. Everyone was scrambling everywhere, not knowing where to go. I sprinted to the doorway and placed myself in between the two of them before any contact.

"Stop this!" I yell. Everyone stopped moving. Freddy drew himself back when he saw me in his way, and old Freddy was barely able to stop himself from hitting me.

"Well," I say. "I guess we'll have to have a little meeting here, Fazbear to Fazbear."

Old Freddy couldn't help but smile a bit. "That's my Bonnie!"

**END OF PART 2**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did this chapter feel a bit rushed? I really feel that I rushed this chapter a bit too much.
> 
> I plan to start the sequel sometime in January. Know that I am still taking animatronic suggestions for this! Remember that only THREE of the many suggestions will find their way into my story, and that I'm picking the ones who I feel are best built. I'm doing this with NO bias whatsoever, meaning every character will be pitted against each other fairly. There are 3 spots open as of right now, though this number is subject to change depending on how many suggestions I get from the other sites.
> 
> As far as this story goes, I will close it off with one more part. Just ten more chapters to go!


	21. Chapter 21

**PART 3: A MEMORY**

I sat hunched forward with my elbows on my knees, trying to figure out what old Freddy meant by saying 'that's my Bonnie'. Old Bonnie watched me from the other side of the room, not moving an inch. We haven't uttered a single word to each other. Everyone else was in different rooms—Freddy and old Freddy in the room next to ours, Chica and old Chica in the room across from us, and Foxy and Mangle in the last remaining room. I glanced behind me to find the office's left vent open.

The lights in the room flickered. I rose to my feet. Freddy had insisted that we spend a bit of time alone with our own counterparts, to just know each other. His prejudice toward old Freddy had disappeared once he received an explanation of what happened.

But in this room, this meeting was pointless! Neither of us spoke up, even though old Bonnie is completely capable of speaking now. We solved nothing, learned nothing. The only thing we did was waste a good two hours of our time.

Leaving the room, I heard voices coming from all three party rooms. Even the Mangle, who was struggling to speak, seemed to be able to converse with Foxy. He/she didn't even sound upset about being the only animatronic whose endoskeleton was still visible. It was probably just something with old Bonnie.

When I reached the dining area, I checked the clock in the room. It was nearly midnight, and none of us were expecting Devlin to return after what happened last night.

Of course, none of us expected Devlin to return. He fled in the middle of the night last night! He could only possibly return if he had forgotten what happened last night, and judging from how scarring the event was, it was something that he wouldn't forget no matter how hard he tried.

As far as Gold's location went, it was pointless to talk about. He could appear anywhere whenever he pleases, but patient he was if he's waited this long to take action.

Outside, the streets seemed restful, nothing moving an inch. The building remained empty without a night guard. Freddy entered the dining area holding a flashlight. "I'm sure hoping there's no guard tonight. Even though old me taught me everything and that they were retrofitted with that 'new tech', I still don't trust this place with Gold still roaming around," he says.

Old Freddy was the next to reach the dining area. He held the Fazbear head in his hands, which he set down on a table. Glancing at the clock in the room—it was almost midnight—he spoke up. "Bonnie is worse than he's ever been. He doesn't want to speak to anyone."

I just shrugged. "Have you tried everything? I couldn't get him to talk either."

Old Freddy nodded. "Everything I could think of."

"Huh. But hey, it's almost midnight, so if you all want to go somewhere before the lights go out, then now would be the time." I climbed onto the stage and waited for midnight to strike. Chica soon emerged from the main hallway, and she and Freddy both joined me, standing to my left.

Old Freddy waved and headed back down the main hallway toward the other old animatronics. He left the main hallway door open—no matter there, as there was no night guard. No reason to stay active.

We all allowed the night to pass. Impatiently waiting out the six hours of seeing and hearing nothing, I continued to think about what old Freddy had said. It was impossible to come to a conclusion—those three words could literally mean anything.

Once the clock hit six, we waited a few more minutes before moving. Surprisingly, Mike Schmidt did not check in this morning. Rather, one of the other day guards was the first to enter the building. I quickly checked on the old animatronics—none of them had moved yet.

Throughout the day, my concern for the old animatronics roaming around the building diminished. We still kept the main hallway door locked just in case something happened to go wrong with them.

As I continued to roam around the east side of the building, I kept my eyes out for Mike. Still, he has not entered the building yet—he probably took the day off for whatever reason. Family matters or something in that category.

That left us with the other day guards. As usual, they kept themselves secluded in their own little offices. They expressed no uneasiness concerning the old animatronics, knowing that the door was locked.

We never headed down that hallway to talk to them, but the temptation continued rising as the day went on. I resisted, of course, trying to clear it from my head by allowing a crowd of kids in the game area to sidetrack me. That, or I just paid another visit to Mangle.

Soon, though, the doors locked up for the night, leaving the building empty without a day guard. The lack of any Mike Schmidt throughout the day was unsettling, especially since it was a Monday night. The night of the week in which we are introduced to a new night guard. There would be no recorded message for him or her this time.

Once everyone was out of the building, including the clean-up crew, I immediately left the stage and headed down toward Parts & Service. Meeting old Freddy along the way, he signaled for us to go back to the dining area before turning back to grab the others.

I turned around. The lights in the hallway flickered for a moment as we tried to navigate back toward the dining area. All of us pulled up our own seats in the dining area and waited as the old animatronics entered came in and also took their own seats.

"Anyone know of the new night guard for tonight?" I ask everyone.

Silence throughout the building. It became apparent to everyone that no one knew who the new night guard would be.

"Does it matter?" asks old Chica. "I mean, no one's going to go after him, right? There's really nothing to worry about."

"There's Gold," mentions Freddy.

"Touché," I reply. "If there's Gold still running around, or floating around, whatever it is, then that means there's still a problem with this place."

A loud cracking noise came from the west side of the building, from one of the party rooms. It sounded like glass breaking. It was very faint, but it was there. Everyone heard it—their eyes shot toward the main hallway at the same time.

I stood up and decided to go first. Peering around the corner into the main hallway, I found nothing. The door to Parts & Service was closed. Several noises continued to emanate from the party rooms. Everyone followed me closely as we checked every corner, every room in the west part of the building.

Soon, I reached the left vent party room. The noises grew louder as I entered, and it no longer sounded like breaking glass. Of course, the first thing I noticed when I looked at the floor was broken glass and a toppled chair.

I heard some banging coming from the left vent. Naturally, I went on to check what was inside the vent. I barely spotted something sneak around the corner toward the office.

I shot a glance at old Freddy before deciding to crawl into the vent. It was a struggle taking the one I wasn't used to taking, but once I reached the turn, I simply reached my hand around it without looking.

My hand latched onto something. "There's something in here!" I call out to everyone. I tried to navigate back out of the vent, though I did require someone to help pull me out.

What I had just pulled out went completely limp. Its face was down to the ground, though we didn't have to see it to know what it was. Still, I flipped it over to find the face of the shiny black endoskeleton, its eyes a void of obscurity.

I checked behind me, toward the hallway for a moment. Did someone just sneak into this place and activate this thing? I didn't remember it ever being in Parts & Service, unless they placed it there right when they fixed me up.

"What moron would have the nerves to one, repair all four of you guys, and two, activate this thing and let it roam around at all times?" I say out loud.

Everyone either shrugged or scratched their head. They were all stuck thinking things over. "Should we get it inside a suit?" asks Chica. "Got to say faithful to the real rules, right?"

Old Freddy stepped forward. "Nah. Leave it alone for now. Doesn't look like too much trouble, but if it is called for, then there's always that empty one in the back room."

We all continued staring at the naked endoskeleton, deactivated and sprawled out across the floor. It was in such a position that it would be nearly impossible for one to enter this room without tripping over it.

We continued to wait the rest of the gap in between sundown and lights out. After what seemed to be forever, the front door finally opened. The new night guard had just entered the building.

"Did you hear that?" says Freddy, rising to his feet in the party room. "New night guard's here. Let's go check on him." He left the room, and soon all of us followed him out of the room. Most of us narrowly avoided tripping over the naked endoskeleton in the room.

But when I reached the main hallway, I was met with an all-too-familiar face. Clearly and instantly identified, as it was someone who had been assimilated into the company and has long become part of the face of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.

Mike Schmidt pulled back the second he saw all eight of us in the main hallway. He quickly threw on the head for the old ones, though he knew that he could already trust us. He fell to his rear as he backed off, gripping a flashlight in each hand.

Old Bonnie went ahead and approached him first. The introverted character reached out toward Mike's face, and his hand met the Fazbear head. Mike had backed into a wall and was reaching his hand out, trying to find the doorway to the dining area.

Unhurriedly, old Bonnie lifted the Fazbear head from Mike Schmidt's head, revealing the face of the terrified guard. What is he even doing here at this time?

He turned his back and left Mike in the corner. Taking the Fazbear head with him, old Bonnie proceeded back down the office hallway toward the room with the naked endoskeleton. The other old animatronics followed after him, leaving the four of us to face Mike.

Freddy offered a hand and pulled Mike back up to his feet. "Weird that I've never seen you like this," he mentions.

Mike brushed his uniform with his hands. "Well, I've done this once like three days ago or something like that." He raised his voice to nearly a shout. "Who on earth would have the nerve to repair all four of them?"

I immediately hushed him. "Not so loud! Look, just forget about the old ones. Retrofitted, yes. Nothing to worry too much about. I think a better question would be: why are you even here right now?"

He shook his head and started down the hallway toward the office. "I agreed to reprise my role in this restaurant as the night guard. I called Devlin a while back, and thank God he was fine. I decided then to take the night shift myself rather than watching countless people get scarred for life, or worse, get themselves killed."

The lights in the hallway flickered again. It's almost midnight. Mike turned on one of the flashlights, though it was unnecessary, and observed his surroundings before slipping into the office. Like always, he positioned himself behind the desk, gently setting each flashlight down. The camera tablet already rested on the wooden surface.

As we passed by the party room that held the endoskeleton, I found old Bonnie fitting the Fazbear head on the deactivated naked endoskeleton. The head hung loosely—it didn't fit correctly.

They activated the endoskeleton. Its eyes blinked for a second before becoming solid white dots in the eyeholes of the Fazbear head. I shook my head. "The head is empty. No wires or crossbars. It won't work," I tell them.

Old Freddy just shook his head, and all of them acted as if they hadn't heard me, though it was apparent that they did. Old Chica pulled the head off and old Freddy deactivated the endoskeleton, leaving it to lie on the checkered floor. They set it down in a corner next to the vent.

Foxy took the Fazbear head and left the room with it. He simply tossed it into the office before reentering.

The lights flickered a bit more. I watched old Freddy to see what he wanted to do. He just remained frozen in place along with the other old animatronics.

Finally, they went out. A small beam of light lined itself across the hallway as Mike used the flashlight. The camera in the room beeped, and a small light flickered before its head dipped down again.

When I left the room, I looked both ways down the hallway before slipping into the office, placing myself next to Mike. He had the tablet down, holding a flashlight in one hand. It nearly slipped out onto the floor, but Mike caught it at the last second.

He pointed it down the hallway and turned it on, revealing a floating golden head with empty eye sockets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's now an official rule. I must end every Chapter in Part 3 with a cliffhanger.
> 
> Still got spots left open for suggestions, guys!
> 
> Also, I'm beginning to get a bit more picky with my descriptions, which is why I'm taking a bit longer to upload chapters. That and school has been busting me lately.
> 
> But don't worry. Christmas and another 2 free weeks is coming up! More chapters! Hopefully, I'll be able to finish this by 12/31.
> 
> 9 more to go!


	22. Chapter 22

I snapped at the sight of Gold and accidentally slapped the flashlight out of Mike's hand. The fragile casing popped open, now rendering the device unusable. He shot an annoyed stare at me. I simply shook my head and opted to remain silent as he picked up the other flashlight from the desk.

He turned it on and pointed it down the hall once again. This time, no apparition, no floating golden head. Good to know.

Trying to avoid causing any more trouble, I left the office and revisited the old animatronics in the left party room. They simply stood there looking out into the hallway. They were still sane—they all blinked and moved when I passed by them.

"It's me." All heads in the room shot straight up, including mine. The faint whisper echoed in my head as it faded away.

"Hear that?" asks old Freddy. Everyone nodded their heads. "Let's roll."

We all left the party room and peered both ways down the hallway. Nothing. Old Chica started toward the office, but stopped and turned her head back toward us after seeing Mike inside. "Bonnie, you first, I guess," she says.

Old Bonnie assumed she was talking to him and started toward the office. He took the main entrance in, Mike noticing his entry almost instantly. He jumped for a second before holding still, looking away from the bunny.

I went ahead after him. Mike's eyes were down, facing the desk as he sweated uncontrollably. He then went on to flip up the tablet again, trying to ignore Bonnie. He did whisper several words under his breath that I could barely comprehend.

"Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me," whispers Mike. He put the tablet down and looked up before jumping back and cowering in the corner. I tossed him the Fazbear head, thinking that it would make him feel safe before glancing at what he saw.

There was a golden Freddy Fazbear suit in the middle of the room, right next to old Bonnie. He noticed its presence right away and tried to throw his fist at it, but it faded away just before contact. It reappeared right behind him, which he quickly took note of and swung his fist at it again. It faded away again. "You can't."

Soon, a garbled voice seemed to emanate throughout the pizzeria. The phone in the office rung, and Mike picked it up before smashing it right upon hearing who was at the other end. "This brings back memories," he says.

"Who was on the other end?" I ask him, listening to the garbled voice grow slightly louder.

"I don't know. It was my night five phone message, and I'm guessing that's all you need to know," says Mike. "I don't want to sit through listening to that voice again. It creeps me out just to think about it. Now I'm pretty much ruined from hearing it again."

He flipped up the tablet again and switched over to the main hallway camera. Rather than finding the regular live camera feed that always showed up, the screen just went completely black with a message on top. 'CAMERA DISABLED. AUDIO ONLY'

Mike placed his ear close to the tablet to try to listen for something. I couldn't hear anything coming from the tablet.

As he was about to set it down an image flashed on the screen. The golden head appeared for a split second before the screen went completely black again. Mike glued his eyes onto the screen, waiting for something to happen.

It flashed on the screen several more times as Mike kept staring at it. After a few seconds, he decided to set it down. Right away, he threw on the Fazbear head, watching as the golden costume suddenly appeared and then faded from view.

"Man, I guess we'll just have to worry about him for tonight," I say. "Hopefully, that's the case."

Mike took off the Fazbear head. "Well, I guess having to watch out for just one isn't nearly as bad as having to watch out for four, right?" he says, picking up the flashlight and turning it on. Gold's head appeared there again before vanishing into thin air.

"Maybe if he's not always on the move, yes," I reply. The garbled voice began to grow more difficult to hear as the Mangle approached. I listened as he/she clambered along the ceiling, the radio static growing louder.

Foxy trotted into the office nonchalantly. "Searchin' for that gold bear," he says. "He be disappearin' on us again?"

I just nodded. Mike, of whom the old animatronics still haven't gained his trust, just kept the Fazbear head close to him should he ever need it.

Leaving the office, I decided that I should check up on the bare endoskeleton. Glancing into the party room, I caught a glimpse—a mere blur of gold that disappeared almost instantly. Looking at old Freddy, I found that he too was searching for Gold.

The bare endoskeleton was still limp in the corner. Nothing unusual there. I started my way back out of the room until I heard something shatter behind me.

I whipped around to find broken glass laying right next to the endoskeleton. Its finger twitched slightly. I stood frozen and watched as it began to move a bit more.

A little girl laughed from behind me. The voice pitched itself down until it was on par with old Freddy's laugh. It didn't match it perfectly, but there was some resemblance.

"It's me," says the haunting voice of which I have now associated with Gold.

Turning back around to face the hallway, I found Gold slowly fading away into thin air. Something knocked me aside, and soon I found myself leaning over one of the tables, watching as the bare endoskeleton dashed into the hallway.

I watched as old Chica quickly halted the endoskeleton, which continued to struggle under her grip. Gold appeared right behind her before fading back away almost instantly. "It's me."

"Does he have anything else to say other than 'it's me' and 'you can't'?" I mutter to myself. Mike zoomed past the doorway, sprinting down the hall toward Parts & Service. My eyes widened after the two seconds it took me to realize what was going on.

I bolted out of the room, seeing that Mike had almost reached the door. Freddy appeared behind him from the main hallway as he reached his hand out for the doorknob.

Freddy grabbed his arm and pulled him aside, away from the Parts & Service door. Mangle's radio static began to fade away, and the garbled voice continued to play throughout the building.

I stepped into the office and picked up the tablet. Opening it up, the screen gave me a live feed of everything going on down in the main hallway. Freddy was just scolding Mike, and it was nothing worth listening to. I simply flipped over to the left vent, finding it empty.

The screen flickered with images of old Bonnie, his eyes replaced with simple white dots. The image continued to flash briefly on the screen, along with the usual 'IT'S ME' shrouded in blackness.

I set the tablet back down and peered out into the main hallway to find that the endoskeleton had escaped and was no longer in the hallway. There was a loud banging noise over to my left. Creeping over to the left vent, I reached my hand out for the light button.

Before pressing it, I noticed Mike's flashlight sitting on the desk. I picked it up and rushed back over to the vent, pressing my hand against the button to reveal the black endoskeleton crawling through.

I pulled back almost instantly and fled the office. Finding that Mike was still at the end of the hallway with Freddy, I decided to loop around to the left party room and try to catch the endoskeleton from behind.

Once I reached the vent, I ducked down and began to crawl through the narrow passage. It was difficult to navigate through the tight space, and when I reached around the corner, I found nothing but empty space.

When I peeked around the corner, I found that the endoskeleton had gone off to a different part of the building. I highly doubted it was still in the office—nothing inside was moving.

Struggling, I pulled myself out of the vent and back into the office, leaving as soon as I regained my footing. Old Freddy was now waiting outside the office. "Nothing?" he asks.

I just shrugged. "About Gold? He's been appearing sometimes, but I've only been able to see him fading away. Other than that, no signs unless you count the tablet. Oh, and the constant 'it's me' as well."

He just nodded, and I passed by him on my way down to Parts & Service. The bare endoskeleton, having now lost us, was still somewhere inside the building. When I reached the main hallway, I realized the door was still open, which meant the endoskeleton could be anywhere on the east side.

"Well, double the area to search now," I say.

Mike was leaning against the Parts & Service doorframe. He seemed to be in an irritated mood—his eyes were staring at the ceiling, and he had his arms crossed. He rested one foot against the frame while the other stayed on the ground. "You guys looking for Gold or the endo?" he asks.

"Both," I answer him. "Freddy stop you from going in?"

He kept his lips sealed and nodded.

"And what do you have to say for yourself about fleeing the office? I thought you of all people would know what the best decision is."

"And the best decision right now is to run," he says, pointing at something behind me. I whipped around to find the golden costume at the end of the hall. It was actually moving—it didn't just fade in and fade out. It actually seemed tangible.

Almost tripping over his leg, Mike quickly fled down the hallway back toward the office. I took off after him and nearly collided with old Bonnie. Something crashed behind me, followed shortly by loud clanging and sliding. Then a voice that I soon recognized as Freddy's began to speak up.

Panicking too much to thank about what was happening in that room, I jumped into the far right party room to find Chica holding the bare endoskeleton in a corner. Shaking my head, I reached out and grabbed its arm and began to pull it out of the room. "No time to care about this! Gold and Freddy are in Parts & Service!"

She let go of the endoskeleton, and I stumbled straight back. Holding it in front of me, I found that the two white dots were still there in the place of its eyes—it was still active. Its hand twitched slightly as I shoved it off toward the doorway.

Both of us left the room and turned toward Parts & Service. I dragged the bare endoskeleton behind me with one hand, holding the flashlight in another.

The first thing we noticed was that everyone was now outside Parts & Service, looking into the room. Even Mangle was hanging on the main hallway ceiling, trying to get a peek at what was going on inside Parts & Service. Of course, nothing was visible, as the room was pitch black as always.

I managed to shove my way through and position myself closest to the room next to old Freddy. I knew that Freddy was still in there—it was the only plausible thing. He couldn't possibly be somewhere else in the building. If he had gotten out, someone would know.

Mike stood a bit further down the hallway than most of us. I pointed the flashlight into the office. Gold's garbled voice that no one could make sense of grew louder by the moment.

Before turning on the flashlight, I looked back at everyone else. They also seemed to be anxious about what was inside. Holding the bare endoskeleton with my other hand, I turned on the flashlight.

The golden figure inside just stared at us, its face wiped clean of any emotion. Its head was tilted, like it was curious.

"Freddy?" I demand.

It turned to the side. I kept the flashlight on, finding Freddy Fazbear with his head tilted. He seemed to be leaning forward, but the most noticeable thing was his eyes.

They were black with small white dots in the center.

I turned back to Gold. "What did you do with him?"

He remained silent, but he did approach us slowly. Once he was just a few inches from me, he took a quick swipe aimed at my face.

I pulled myself back just in time, and Freddy grabbed the costume by the head. He tore the head clean off and, without stopping, threw the head onto the naked endoskeleton. It fit perfectly, much to Freddy's surprise.

The limp torso was still there right in front of us. Without thinking and only figuring that this would fit, I quickly stuffed the rest of the bare endoskeleton into Gold's suit.

Once all was finished, I stood back next to everyone else who was watching. The now-suited endoskeleton just lay there, unmoving.

Everyone was anxious, waiting in trepidation to find out what was to happen now. Old Freddy stood back next to me, but we all knew that Freddy was still in the room, and no one knew what had happened to him. Old Freddy and I were the only ones to see his eyes.

I watched the costume for the slightest bit of movement. A few minutes passed, and nothing. I began to turn toward the office until out of the corner of my eye, I saw the costume's head jerk back.


	23. Chapter 23

All seven of us stood frozen in place, watching as the golden costume writhed on the floor. Mike still stood back near the office. As it squirmed and struggled on its own, I could barely catch sight of two small white dots appearing in the once-empty eye sockets.

Then everything was still. It stopped moving, and now was still as a statue, lying on the floor. Everyone remained frozen. No one raised their voice. Old Chica stepped forward first and reached her hand out for the costume.

The head popped up, facing all seven of us. It jumped straight to its feet and rushed back into Parts & Service room. "It's me!" it says, louder than ever before.

All the lights in the hallway went out, leaving nothing visible but the distant office. Rather than fleeing the scene, both Old Freddy and I dashed straight into Parts & Service, relying on nothing but the tiny beam provided by Mike's flashlight. "Stay here until we say something!" I could barely hear Old Freddy tell everyone.

Freddy was still staring into blank space in the middle of the room, seemingly unconscious. His arms dangled at his side, and his jaw hung open.

Suddenly, the golden figure appeared right in front of us. Both of us stumbled straight back. I reached behind me, only to find that I had backed into a wall, finding the doorway several feet to my left. Turning my head back to the middle of the room, I found Gold standing in front of Freddy. Judging by how quickly he moved, I knew that I wouldn't be able to reach the doorway before Gold.

"Ah! Well, now that we're all here," he says in a deep, menacing voice. It was deeper than Old Freddy's laugh, almost on par with the garbled voice that still played in the background. "We can all truly discuss this entire thing. Fazbear," he pointed at Old Freddy, "to Fazbear," he then pointed to himself, "to Fazbear." He moved behind Freddy and reached for something on the back of his neck. Freddy's eyes returned to normal as he relaxed.

The second he regained awareness, he quickly turned around and took a swing at Gold. Gold grabbed his arm and shoved him straight toward me. His back hit the wall, barely missing me. An infuriated look sprouted on his face as he faced Gold, and Old Freddy had to hold him back.

"Who do you think you are?" Freddy demands. "Thinking you can just go cause mischief around this building!"

Gold just chuckled, completely unfazed by the animatronic. "The question is, who really are you, having only been around here for not even a year yet? I've been a part of this company far longer than any of you have, including you." He pointed at Old Freddy.

"What?" he says. "If you were here before any of us, at least we would've known about you from the previous location."

Gold just shook his head and chuckled lightly. "No, no, no. You've got it all wrong. I am a scrapped project. Well before the company showed even the slightest hint on adding the others. It was just me all by myself."

"And how exactly is this relevant to what we're talking about right now?" asks Freddy. He was growing impatient, and it was clearly showing.

"Simple," continues Gold. "All of us need a basic understanding of this place's history to know where this is going."

"I'm sorry," Old Freddy jumps in. "I can't handle this. I'm just going to leave right now. We'll just leave you alone, and you can leave us alone. Deal? Okay." He crept toward the door, turning his back to Gold. He kept his head down.

"Wait!" Gold suddenly raised his voice, and it echoed throughout the room. A few uninterpretable whispers came from outside the room.

"Don't you want to know what happened to these little angels?" continues Gold, holding up a small picture. Old Freddy froze on the spot. After a few seconds, he turned around to face Gold, eye to eye. He caught the picture with his eyes and cringed.

"Don't you want to know what really happened that night?" Gold continues taunting him.

Freddy just stared at them, dumbfounded. "Kids? What kids? Old me, what is he talking about?"

Old Freddy snatched the picture from Gold's hand. Gold made no effort to draw his hand back—it was obvious that he was intentionally giving it to Old Freddy. Gold faded into the dark corner of the room, where he wasn't visible.

Old Freddy held the picture close to his face and examined it with the little light provided. He made it clear to all of us that he was in the middle of an emotional low, almost as if he were about to cry. He looked like he just wanted to bawl in agony for the rest of the night. "Why would one do such a thing?" His voice was barely audible, almost a whisper.

I headed over to him and tried to catch a glimpse of the picture. Old Freddy pulled it away from me. "You wouldn't understand. You weren't there when it happened. You weren't there when that man came in and killed those kids. You weren't forced to watch it unfold right in front of you as you stood there, frozen in place."

I backed off. "You're right. I wasn't. Still, is there something we can do?"

He just shrugged. "Perhaps you should at least know what happened that night," he says.

"Then what did happen that night?" asks Freddy.

"Easy to say. One night, a man dressed in a costume lured five kids backstage in the old building. He just slaughtered each and every one of them. It's a bit foggy, but I can vaguely remember their screams as he chopped them up. A few months later, he was convicted, though the children's bodies were never found. And to this day, I don't think it's been solved. But it's all about our generation, not yours. You have nothing to do with such an incident, and I don't want to drag you into such an investigation."

There was complete silence after Old Freddy finished his explanation. No comments came, not even from Gold, who we all knew was hiding in the dark.

"And that's supposed to be a picture of them?" I ask, pointing at the picture in Old Freddy's hand.

He just nodded and sniffled. "Yeah." He coughed. "Long gone now."

"Huh," I say, reaching out for the picture. This time, Old Freddy handed it over to me, and I held it close to my face.

It was a small group of three boys and two girls at what I had guessed to be the old location, judging from the background of a dining area that obviously wasn't the one in this building. None of them could have been older than eight. The littlest barely reached the tallest one's shoulders in height.

When I looked up from the photo, I'm suddenly not in Parts & Service anymore. Suddenly, I'm in the same dining area as the one shown in the background of the picture. Five kids were trotting across the dining area, closely resembling the ones in the picture. I held up the picture and compared to verify, and they were.

They seemed to be following someone. I looked ahead of them and found that they were following someone in Gold's suit. He led them all to the back room and slammed the door shut. Several clicks came from the other side, meaning it had been locked. I tried moving toward the door, but I just stood frozen in place.

The front door opened, followed by footsteps in the building. They trailed away from the back room. I tried to glance at who had just entered and saw a short man with his back turned.

Less than a minute later, a high-pitched scream reached through the door, barely audible. It had to be the scream of a little girl. Again I tried to move, but I stood frozen in place, able to do nothing but listen to the screams coming from the room.

Someone pounded on the door from the other side, the number of voices inside beginning to dwindle. The highest pitched voice suddenly stopped, followed by another one. The noise coming from the other side of the door also cut off abruptly.

One by one, each voice cut off until there was nothing but a deep, garbled voice. It grunted, and suddenly the door flung open.

It was splattered with blood. In fact, as I looked further into the back room, both the walls and floor were shrouded in a red sea. Barely, through the doorway, I could see what looked like a hand, also a complete mess, as two of its fingers had been chopped off. I wanted to scream, to lash out at whoever lured the kids back there.

Out of the back room emerged a figure. It was the man in Gold's suit, the only one who is still alive. It was clear that all the kids were dead. Again I tried to move, and again my legs didn't respond.

I was forced to stare at the golden figure, at the demon who dared to do such a task. What even was his motive?

As I inspected his eyes, I found that the sockets were completely empty. There were no human eyes like I had expected. There was nothing!

A light in the room flickered, shining straight at his face. There was no person beneath the suit. Rather, when I looked at those empty eye sockets, I could barely catch sight of two bright white dots.

The clock in the room struck twelve, and the animatronics on stage sprung to life right away. The first move they made was toward the back room. Gold quickly disappeared, fading into nothingness.

The scene changed. It was just a regular day at the old location—I could clearly see all the animatronics performing on stage. Their song came to a hasty finish, and right away, they started off the stage.

When I glanced to my left, I saw that Pirate's Cove was fully operational. What was going on in there was unknown to me. An image of Gold flickered in front of the cove before a loud ear-piercing screech filled the entire restaurant.

Then screaming ensued. Families made a mad dash for the exit as several employees rushed into the cove to find out what was going on.

They pulled back the curtains to reveal Foxy leaning over a little girl. His teeth had sunken into her head, and blood began to drip onto the floor. In the midst of all the screaming, I could hear one garbled voice. "It's me."

They managed to pull the two away from each other. The garbled voice grew louder, and Gold appeared again, letting out a deep screech.

Suddenly, I'm back in Parts & Service. I shook my head, trying to make sense of what I had just witnessed. It was clear that I had just seen the murder of the five children played out in front of me, but what was that other event?

It came to me. Earlier, Old Freddy had scratched the surface on something that they called the 'Bite of '87'. Could that possibly be the other thing I saw?

The flashlight was still in my other hand. I lowered the picture and handed it back to Old Freddy before pointing the flashlight at the corner of the room, where Gold was.

I turned it on to reveal his figure. "You!" I call out. "You are the killer! Those cases haven't been solved! You mislead all of them. All of them!" I stormed toward the corner. As I was about to reach him, Gold zoomed past me and appeared at the doorway.

I turned around and started toward him. "And worse, you caused the bite!"

He just avoided me again, but I didn't turn around this time. I simply just stormed straight out of the room and shoved my way through the crowd of animatronics to find that Mike had returned to his office. "Mike!" I call out.

Gold appeared in front of me. "Now, now, we don't want this place to close down after the fortune they've spent on this location, now do we?" he says, managing to remain calm. "We don't have to bring up the irrelevant history of the old location, do we?"

"Well, you brought it up in the first place!" I nearly shout. I shoved him aside and continued toward Mike.

"Have it your way!" he raises his voice suddenly. The light went out, and I felt something grab me from behind before I blacked out.

* * *

When I woke up, I was on the stage. Glancing at the clock in the room, I found that the doors were about to open. Both Freddy and Chica stood next to me. They started moving as well, observing their surroundings before anything.

"What happened last night?" I ask them, watching both of them.

Neither of them seemed to have a clue as to what had happened. "I don't know. I just blacked out," says Freddy.

The milling of people around the building grabbed my attention. Whenever someone came too close, it made me feel uncomfortable. I didn’t know why—nothing really seemed unusual with how they looked. I could still easily recognize them as people. Something just felt off every time they came near, like they has some sinister plans beneath their sleeves.

It bothered me. I simply just stared at one of them when he approached.


	24. Chapter 24

As I roamed around the game area with a small band of kids, I caught sight of one of their parents. I grew more uncomfortable as she approached. One of the kids in the group split off, and she turned away to leave. As she walked off, I stared at her.

The trend continued throughout the day. Adults were everywhere, but none of them seemed to really pay us any attention—only the kids did. If one of them ever did happen to approach us, a stare would usually scare them off.

It wasn't long until some of them began to notice the trend. It was no surprise. They approached us more often as the day went by. Each time, I simply shot a stare at them, and they would leave.

Something was just disturbing. I still recognized them as human adults, but something just wanted to tell me otherwise. Every time they approached, I felt danger approaching with them, like it was something they unknowingly wore.

Night approached and families began to leave the area. Well, at least I'm not going to have to deal with adults roaming all over the building at all times. By eleven, only about four were left in the building, and they didn't even approach us that often. Whenever they did, they usually left in less than five seconds.

Right before the clock struck twelve, another one entered the building. My thoughts were lying to me, and I tried my best to convince myself that this was Mike Schmidt. He's not a dangerous man.

But the more I thought about it, the more threatening he seemed to be. I was half-grateful when he entered the main hallway and left my sight. That way, I wouldn't have to think about him when I don't see him.

As soon as the clock struck twelve, I turned to Freddy. "Do we go now?" I ask him.

Freddy turned and nodded. We all left the stage at the same time and started toward Parts & Service to check on the old generation.

"Did anyone find adults really disturbing today?" asks Chica.

"Yes," both Freddy and I say in unison.

Old Freddy appeared in the doorway to Parts & Service. From what I saw, there were no tears in his costume from last night, which was a good thing.

"Hey Freddy, we have to tell you something before we get all concerned about Gold," I say.

Old Freddy seemed to slump over and groaned in annoyance. "All right. Fire away, I guess."

Chica spoke up first. "It's about all the adults in the building. I don't know, they're starting to look a bit dangerous. Even Mike. It's getting hard to think that they're just there, that they're not going to do anything. Especially when they came close."

He just nodded. "And your solution to whenever an adult 'came close'?"

"Well, we just stared at them until they went away," I say.

As if on cue, the phone in the office rang. Who even has to record messages for Mike? What help could he possibly need? We all moved further down the hallway so we could hear who it was.

"Hey, Mike, it's Darian. I decided that I should record this message for you because we've actually had some weird things happening today.

"So, throughout the day, none of the animatronics have been acting right. I mean, they're able to get around with the kids just fine, but whenever an adult comes near, they would just stare. Especially at the older ones. Freaky. I've had Bonnie do it to me twice.

"Whatever. But what I'm thinking happened with the new animatronics is that they've been tampered with. Somehow, I'm guessing, someone managed to tamper with their facial recognition systems at some time last night. You're supposed to be doing your job there, man! The night guard isn't all about surviving, you know.

"But anyway, we'll try to get them looked at tomorrow. In the meantime—hey, what are you— get out of here!"

Darian's voice began to fade away slightly from the other end, replaced by a series of noises. Most of them sounded like footsteps, but there was the noise of something crashing. They seemed to fade away for a few seconds before growing louder again.

"Sorry about that. Little run-in with one of the older models. But hey, just finish your shift, and I want to have a talk with you in the morning. Be careful around the new animatronics. Got it? Okay, see you in the morning."

Still listening to the recording, the sound of faint footsteps and several voices could be heard from the other end. Leaning in closer, but still trying not to allow Mike to spot me, I listened closely. Gold's faint garbled voice was audible in the background.

"I have to go. Remember, just stay careful and I'll talk with you in the morning. I'll try my best to be here at six o'clock sharp."

The recording ended, throwing the entire building into complete silence. It clicked in my head. All the others realized it too, that what Darian may have just suggested was the most likely cause of this. "There's your solution," says Old Freddy. "And Mike is going to be really paranoid tonight with you guys."

"So, we'll just have to stay away from Mike for the entirety of the night, get ourselves looked at, and then we're all back to normal," I suggest. "Sounds like a simple enough plan."

Old Freddy spoke up again. "I don't want to really ruin it, but we do still have Gold somewhere on the premises, so I wouldn't get too confident about making it through this night."

"And about Gold. Did you hear him in the recording?" I ask.

Everyone just stared at me like I was crazy. It became apparent that nobody heard it. Nobody except me.

"Well, I heard him in the recording. But from what we all see right now, I'm guessing that Darian managed to escape right before he pounced. Quite a fortunate one, I must say," I explain to them.

As of right now, we were barely a few minutes into the night. Gold's garbled voice already began to play in the corridor. His capabilities were still unknown to me—if stuffing that endoskeleton into his suit did anything, it surely wasn't something that would help us.

Mangle's radio static also began to play. I nearly slapped myself in the face when I heard the sound effect—I had completely forgotten about him/her for the entire day! Hopefully, he/she had not been tampered with as well. If he/she had, then

I felt a hand on my shoulder and whipped around to find Foxy staring at me. He had his eye patch flipped up, and his golden eyes almost seemed to glow in the dark. His left hand was reaching outward.

His jaw remained shut. He didn't speak at all, only patting my shoulder as he moved on toward the office. Freddy followed after him.

"Bonnie?" says Old Freddy. "What did you really mean when you blew up at Gold last night and said he was the killer? I mean, were you really implying that he was the killer? That he caused the bite?"

I frowned. "What, did you not already know that he was the culprit?"

He shook his head. "No. We were always told that some man did it. Came in dressed in Gold's suit one night and took the five of them backstage for slaughter. His name, which I should really not mention because it's gone completely obsolete now, was the same as one of the security guard's names. Fired for general unprofessionalism and odor, and I think a disagreement on his hours was a reason."

Seeing that we wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon, I leaned against a wall and slid down to the floor. "No. You're well aware that I go out every now and then, that I see random things from the first building, right?"

He shook his head, but still motioned for me to go on without explaining.

"Well, it was last night when you handed me that picture. I don't know, it seemed like the entire incident played itself through right in front of me. Then when the murderer came out the door, I didn't see a man in Gold's suit. Rather, I just saw Gold himself, endoskeleton eyes and all. You know what I mean?"

"Yes, but that doesn't make any sense. Why would they think that the guard did it if it really was Gold?"

"Well, I'll ask you this. Do you think anyone will believe that a throwaway animatronic would come in and murder five children outright? I mean, who in the right mind would think that an animatronic that has been disabled for years would kill kids?"

He pondered for a moment. "Nobody."

"Exactly," I tell him. "That man was probably framed because he was the person closest to the incident when it happened."

"Seems plausible," says Old Freddy. "Then there's the bite. How could Gold possibly get into the building in the middle of the day and tamper with Foxy without being spotted?"

That was a tricky one. I couldn't argue against him—there was absolutely no way Gold could've snuck into the pizzeria that day. When the place is packed with kids and adults, anyone would notice the yellow suit in the light. The odd one out.

Then another detail came to my mind. "He never did actually sneak into the building. You know how he can appear in random places at random times and then just disappear suddenly. Well, I suppose that's how he was able to get into the cove and mess with Foxy. Just enough that nothing over-the-top would happen, but enough to send the place down the drain with a horrible reputation."

Old Freddy just nodded. "Okay. So that's really our solution to all this? Just assuming that Gold did everything in the old location?"

"Until then, yes."

The lights in the office went out, followed by everything else in the building. It was truly pitch-black now. I couldn't see my own hand when I held it just a few inches from my face. As I listened to what was going on, I only heard Gold and Mangle. Everyone still held their composure, or at least I thought they did, as no screams rang throughout the hallway.

A small beam of light flashed from the office as Mike turned on the flashlight. He shone it down the hall and, to nobody's surprise, revealed Gold at the very end. Right away, he switched the flashlight off and sent the building into darkness again.

I heard some footsteps coming from the main hallway. Mangle's radio static seemed to trail off somewhere toward the office. Another light in the office flickered for a brief moment, revealing Mangle hanging from the ceiling.

Gold's garbled voice was beginning to get on my nerves. The more I heard it, the more annoying it would get. It was almost to the point where I wanted to shout or say something about it, but knowing that it would be unproductive—if anything, counterproductive—I held myself back.

I spent the entire night sitting against the wall in the hallway. Knowing that trying to navigate the building blind would be a bad idea, I decided to just wait out the night until the lights come back on, hoping that Gold wouldn't do anything.

It was pretty much nothing but staring at the wandering beam of light from Mike's flashlight. Once it seemed to become apparent to him that I wasn't going to move anywhere, he started to use it less and less.

Then the lights in the hallway came back on. I squinted as I tried to adjust to the sudden change, and once I was finally able to see again, I found Mike leaving the office. Again, that false sense of danger grew as he approached me, but I tried my best to ignore it. Needless to say, I still stared at him when he passed by.

But I knew what was coming up. They wanted to look at us again today, according to what Darian said. Hopefully, they would find a solution for the hours that the place is open, as this was something that would take a while.

What were we to assume if nothing could be done? Even if we were never tampered with in the first place, the only reasonable explanation for this would be that something went wrong. But if they couldn't do anything to fix this, then what would be our solution?

Nothing.


	25. Chapter 25

As I strolled out of Parts & Service, I felt much cleaner than I did when I went in. Darian must have been right—that false sense of danger no longer existed when we woke up just a few minutes ago.

It soon came to my attention that the place was closed down for the day, as I had discovered that it was already afternoon by the time we woke up. Mangle was already back in the cove, while the old ones, as far as I knew, were in one of the party rooms.

The first thing I decided to do was to check and see if Darian was still in the building. I searched the office first, only finding that the old animatronics were all in the party room leading to the left vent. A few minutes later, I discovered that the east side of the building was vacant as well.

With nothing else to do for the rest of the day, I paid a visit to the old animatronics in the party room.

"Feeling much better there?" Old Chica asks the second I enter the room.

I simply nodded. "Yes," I say, taking a seat and leaning on a table lazily. "Just consider us lucky that Darian was right about something going wrong. I think it had something to do with that criminal database thing we're tied into. Tampering with that new tech stuff."

Seeing Old Bonnie keeping his distance from everyone else as he sat hunched over with his elbows on his knees, I noticed that he hadn't uttered a single word. Never. He's completely silent, almost like he had no working voice box, even though I was pretty sure he did.

"So," I start, trying to deviate from the topic. "Anyone seen Gold lately? I'm not talking about his voice—that thing is getting really annoying. I'm talking about if anyone has actually really seen the tangible him."

Nobody answered for a few seconds until Freddy decided to speak up. "Well, as far as we know he's only supposed to come out during those six hours of a night guard's shift. The rules—"

"Forget about the rules!" I interrupt. "We thought you guys that you only move from twelve to six, but then you just go after Mike in the middle of the day. There really are no clear rules to this place, and if there are, then clearly all of us are really terrible at following them. From now on, we're going to assume that anything can happen no matter what, where, or when it happens."

They all just nodded, opting to remain silent. Again, I had probably chosen a bad topic to discuss at the moment—I should save this for later when Mike is here to hear all this.

"Freddy," I say, pulling back something he said the day I found him and the others repaired. "What did you mean when you said 'that's my Bonnie'?"

Old Freddy just groaned and leaned back against a table. "I'm really not in the mood to talk about it. Just know that it's something that you probably don't want to know, but I think it might have something to do with all those things you keep seeing."

Knowing that he wasn't in his best condition right now, I decided against trying to get him to tell me what it meant. I simply just stood up and left, heading back to the empty stage.

Then I just waited out the rest of the day, patiently waiting for Mike to enter the building for his third night.

When Mike did enter the building, he seemed a bit less nervous. He came close to us for a brief moment, and he didn't feel at the slightest bit dangerous. Relieved to find that all of it was behind us now, he started toward the office for the night. I wasn't completely sure if they had done something about the lights. Most likely Mike would have to spend the night with little to no light.

The lights were about to go out—just ten more minutes. With nothing to do, we simply waited out that time. Once the lights went out, I was the first one to move off the stage, followed closely by Freddy and Chica. The lights in the hallway were out mostly, but some were still on, which provided us with enough light to navigate the halls.

The first animatronic I ran into during my trek to the office was Old Bonnie. He must have never moved out of that party room since I left—he was still in there! He was just leaving the room when I entered.

Freddy followed me through the party room and through the right vent. We both turned up in the office, and from how Mike reacted to our appearance, it seemed he didn't care about having us in the office. I guessed he already knew that Darian was correct and was told not to worry about us anymore.

But I didn't exactly have the same reaction as he did when I saw what else was inside the office. Mike turned a blind eye to the figure that was standing there—he acted as if he hadn't noticed it at all. I, however, stumbled straight back when I saw the figure standing at the entrance, at the spot where Gold would usually settle whenever he appeared in the office.

The figure was slightly taller than me, and looking at it closer, it seemed to look just like me. It was completely black with large white eyes and white teeth. It didn't even look real—it looked like something that was just there.

Old Freddy appeared in the entrance to the office. He turned is head to the right and almost jumped back like I did. Regaining himself, he crept toward me, keeping his eyes on the figure in the office.

"Ignore it," says Old Freddy. "He's trying to get in your head. Just shut it out."

Seeing that there was nothing better I could do, I took his advice and looked away from the figure standing in the room.

Mike had the Fazbear head on the desk, which I thought was unnecessary because there was simply no need to use it now that it doesn't fool anyone. The flashlight rested in his hand just as always. He pointed it down the hallway to find Foxy approaching, which he again ignored.

A little girl's laugh rang throughout the building, the one that signaled Gold's approach. Mike turned on the flashlight again after Foxy appeared in the room to reveal Mangle in the hallway.

Foxy noticed the figure in the room as well. Trying my best to keep my eyes off the shadow thing, I saw Foxy standing in front of it. He seemed to reach out for it with his hook, but when he was about to make contact, the shadow thing disappeared. Just like the Freddy's shadow thing in Parts & Service.

"Now wha' might be the big fuss?" says Foxy. "Tha' was nothin'!"

He moved toward the corner we were in, and I saw right away that Gold appeared in the spot where the shadow originally was. "It's me," he says. Two small white dots appeared in the eye sockets—that endoskeleton was still inside the costume.

Old Bonnie and Old Chica both appeared at the office entrance. Gold's garbled voice started playing again. As annoying as the voice was, nothing could be done to stop it. Finding that the office was starting to get a bit crowded at this point, and knowing that Mangle and Chica were both approaching the room, Freddy and I quickly fled the office and started toward Parts & Service.

Turning left into the room, the first thing I noticed was how dark it was. It was completely pitch black inside the room. There's no reason to go in there without a flashlight. Keeping that in mind, I turned around and looked through the main hallway.

One of the posters in the main hallway had changed from a poster of Freddy Fazbear into a poster of Gold's face. Again, the little childlike laughter reverberated in the hallway. Hoping that nothing would happen, I took off back toward the office where everyone else was. We nearly collided with Chica along the way.

When we arrived back in the office, we found that Mike was viewing the cameras despite having almost everyone here. Chica was the last one to arrive here, and while I still thought that having everyone in the office at once was a bad idea, I guessed it couldn't hurt.

Everyone heard some thumping in the left vent. It was audible over Mangle's radio static. Mike, being the closest to the vent, dragged his feet across the floor and reached out for the light button. He pressed it and took a look at what was inside. He jumped back right away. No one else saw it—Mike's head was in the way.

Mike pressed the light button again, but this time he didn't look inside. It gave us a clear view of what was in the vent.

Gold was crawling through the vent. He was almost in the office, reaching out for something to grab in the office in order to pull himself out of the tight space.

We all exchanged glances with Mike, just standing there as we watched Gold continue crawling through the vent.

Then, without warning, Mike took off straight out of the office into the dimly lit hallway. Gold screamed out—or at least it sounded like a scream. Not wanting to fight Gold—it was something that either Freddy could do a better job at—I decided to take off down the hallway and follow Mike.

As I approached the end of the hallway, I found Mike jumping through the open doorway into Parts & Service. I found that Foxy had followed me down here when I glanced back at the office for a split second. Everyone else was either still inside or right outside the office.

I followed Mike, and soon Foxy was also standing inside the room. Mike held a flashlight in his left hand, and was using it to browse over the contents of the room. He found nothing but some spare parts, a few masks, and the Freddy Fazbear suit that always sat propped up against the wall.

Grunting, Mike turned off the flashlight and faced both of us. "Nothing," he says. "I was thinking there might be something in here that I could use, but from the looks of this junkyard, there's nothing too useful."

My eyes drifted toward the spot where I estimated the suit to be. Navigating blindly, I reached out trying to feel for the wall. Once the hard surface met my hand, I reached to the side until I felt something soft. Grabbing hold of it, I dragged it out of the room. I knelt next to it and turned the head over, seeing all the wires and crossbars inside both the head and the torso.

"What are you doing?" asks Mike.

I looked up at him. "I'm not really sure. I highly doubt this idea will work, but I'm guessing that it's worth a shot." I glanced down the hallway, seeing that Gold was still occupied in the office. "Foxy, you able to get all the wires out?"

The animatronic fox just nodded and kneeled down next to the head, reaching inside. In the middle of working, he glanced down the hallway and took off straight down the dim corridor, seeing that Gold was towering over Freddy. Foxy shouldered Gold away from Freddy and sprinted back as fast as he could in order to continue working.

From that one action, I concluded that Foxy would go anywhere to keep everyone up, to keep all of us, old and new, from even taking a simple scratch. The crazy idea in my head, that probably has less than a twenty percent chance of working, had to be set up right away—if it fails, then we would at least have bought us some time. "You and Mike keep working here. I'll make sure nothing happens," I tell Foxy before taking off down the hallway toward the others.

The first thing my eyes picked up in the hallway was Gold kneeling next to the left vent. Old Freddy and Old Chica were in the room with him, and I saw that Chica and Mangle were in the office waiting just outside the vent. The camera tablet still rested on the desk. I grabbed it and flipped it open to find that Freddy and Old Bonnie were both in the party room that led to the right vent. They both bolted out of the doorway toward the office.

Switching to the left vent camera, I barely caught a glimpse of Gold crawling through the narrow passage before the feed cut to static, spelling out the words 'YOU CAN'T' once again. I set the tablet back down on the desk and saw that Chica and Mangle were both waiting outside the vent. The radio static was more quiet than usual, though it was still audible around the room.

Loud footsteps echoed in the hallway, and I glanced at the entrance of the office to find Mike and Foxy dragging the suit into the room. It was now missing several wires and crossbars, which I guessed were all dumped into Parts & Service. "We won't be able to get all these wires out quick enough," says Mike.

"You don't have to," I reply, shoving them out of the room in order to keep them out of Gold's line of sight. "You only need to remove enough so that a body can fit in there."


	26. Chapter 26

Mike pulled us back to the main hallway, taking the suit along with him. A few wires poked out of the openings in the mask, especially around the eyes and mouth. "Are you mental?" he whispers loudly, watching Gold in the office. "You know that if I'm going in this thing, it's going to fool no one. Not the old ones, not you guys, not Gold, nobody!"

"You're completely positive about this?" I ask, glancing down the hallway at Gold, who was in the corner of the office. "Gold is a scrapped project. I highly doubt he is retrofitted with the same new technology as us. It's worth a shot."

Mike just sighed. With that endoskeleton now inside Gold, he actually is tangible now, as proven by Foxy when he shoved him away from Freddy. He kneeled down next to the suit and reached inside frugally, continuing to work on pulling out the wires inside. I rushed back down to the office, once again leaving the two to work on the suit.

A whole hour of simply running a cycle to avoid Gold passed, thinking that trying to take the offensive side would end up with him vanishing off only to appear somewhere else in the building. Hoping that he wouldn't end up right next to Mike and Foxy, we all simply decided to not take the offensive side and try to corner him in one room, but still try to keep everyone standing.

Once the hour was up, I decided to leave the office as Gold reentered the left vent. When I reached the main hallway, there was an agglomeration of wires piled up on the floor. Foxy tossed a crossbar through the open doorway into Parts & Service.

They both saw me and let me through to check on the suit. As I looked inside, I noticed that the suit was nearly devoid of all wires. Looking up to them, I nodded. "That should be good enough. Leave it here, and let's head down to the office."

As we started down the hallway, Mike began to speak. "When do you want me to put it on?" he asks.

"Whenever you feel that it's necessary," I answer. "But do it in a place he can't see it, or he'll know. That thing's not just an empty head. There is no way you'll be able to get it on fast enough to fool anyone."

When we reached the office, the first thing I saw was Gold lunging straight out, his left shoulder pointed straight at Mike. Mike jumped back, and Freddy grabbed Gold by the shoulders, trying to hold him back. Gold simply just faded away, leaving everyone to wonder about his location. His voice grew louder as we all scattered around the west side of the building, searching for him.

The next voice we all heard was Foxy calling out Gold's location. It came from Parts & Service. Once I reached the room, all the others were already there—I was looking in the office. Mike pointed his flashlight inside and revealed Gold slumped over with his head tilted, as if he were taunting us.

No one dared to move. I glanced at Mike, and then the suit. He shook his head, which told me that he didn't want to try it on just yet. I then went to tap my wrist, asking Mike for the time. He simply just shrugged. No one knew the time.

A loud thump sounded from inside Parts & Service, and Mike moved the flashlight around to reveal the shadow-like Freddy Fazbear. It was in the same position as Gold. Again, everyone opted to remain as still and silent as possible.

Mike breathed heavily. "It's just in your head," he says. It sounded like he was directing his voice toward us, but at the same time it was very possible that he was just talking to himself. "It isn't real. Gold is real. The shadow isn't."

The shadow faded away, and Mike decided to move the flashlight back to where Gold was in Parts & Service. There was only one problem—he was gone! To add to that, there were no traces that hinted us toward where he went.

Chica and Mike were the first to enter the room. From the middle of the room and with the flashlight angled down, Mike took a full view of the room. Old Freddy took off down to the office without saying anything. The only thing we heard before he was out of our reach were his footsteps.

I could only glance at him sprinting for a brief second before I had to shift my view back on Mike and Chica inside

the room, wondering where Gold had gone. About a minute passed, and then there came the sound of the camera inside the room activating. A light flickered for a brief moment. Mike pointed the flashlight toward the camera and almost immediately made for the exit.

Around the same time, a shout came from down the hallway. Old Freddy came sprinting back toward us, running with the tablet's screen pointed toward us. Gold's face was on display, his eyes staring into the camera as if he were looking out the other side. The screen went black, and when we looked back at Mike and Chica, we found Gold right behind them.

The second Mike was out of the room, he put all eight of us in between him. He dragged the suit toward the office and removed the head, slipping it onto his. From what I could see, it didn't fit snugly. Rather, it seemed to swing as he turned his head.

I turned my attention back to Gold, who was just coming out of Parts & Service. Mangle, who was hanging on the ceiling just above the doorway, swung down with his/her jaw pointed at Gold's head.

The teeth sunk into the costume, poking several holes into the back of the head. Mangle forced his/her teeth out of the suit right away. Gold remained still as a statue, staring at the entire group. He then went to fade away into nothingness. Freddy lunged forward and made a grab for him, but he only managed to catch air.

I turned around, looking for where Gold had gone. As we all waited for him to reappear somewhere in the building, I decided to check on what Mike was doing. When I reached him, I found him inserting one of his legs into the suit. He was already wearing the head. "Now how am I supposed to do this?" he mutters to himself.

"Are you going to try it on now? No one knows where Gold is right now, by the way," I tell him.

Mike nodded. "Yes, I'm sure I want to do this now. Besides, I'm sure my shift should end sometime soon anyway. Even if it doesn't mean that he's going to stop, at least there's more people here during the day. Anything that gets in his way is good."

I decided to keep watch as he struggled to fit himself in the suit. "Okay, now I understand how getting stuffed inside one of these would bring a lot of discomfort, and death," he says. "It's difficult to fit myself in this thing without wires. I can't even imagine what it would be like to get stuffed into one of these things when it's full of them!"

After a few minutes of struggling, he finally managed to fit his entire body inside. He laid on the floor, trying to move himself around in the thing. He eventually just stopped and took off the mask. "Could you hand me my flashlight? It's impossible to move around in this thing because the arms and legs are too thin to fit into."

I searched for it on the ground—with what little light I had, it would take an incredibly sharp eye to detect something on the floor, especially if it's the same color. I ran my hand across the floor several times before it bumped into something that rolled away. I grabbed it and found the switch, pointing the beam up toward the ceiling.

Turning it back off, I held it in front of Mike. He ducked into the suit, allowing me to drop the flashlight in. I then went to lock the mask back onto the suit. The flashlight flickered from inside the suit, allowing me to see Mike's face in the mask.

"See, the idea I had in mind is that if you stay still, then Gold should ignore you, thinking you're dead," I tell him. "Just hold keep as still and quiet as you can from inside."

Mike turned off the flashlight inside and tried his best to go limp, leaving the suit to lie flat on the floor in the middle of the hallway. "It's a bit hot in here," he says.

"Well, what are you supposed to expect when you're wearing that?" I ask. "The mask alone can make you sweat. You'll probably want to take a shower when you get home later. Now quiet until we find out where Gold is."

Mike grumbled before going silent again. Another few minutes passed, and it seemed that there was still no sign of him. The other seven spread out over the west side of the building, and so far nobody had called anything out yet.

A few minutes soon turned into what felt like hours. The building remained completely silent, save for everyone's footsteps. Mike tried his best to remain still inside the suit, though he did have to take off the mask a few times to catch some air and cool off.

As hour upon hour passed, and the end of the night grew closer, much of the tension we all held began to dissipate. No one had called out Gold's location, meaning that he either hasn't reappeared yet, or he turned up somewhere on the east side of the building. Knowing that there was no reason to go to him, we all decided to leave the door to the main hallway open and allow him to come to us whenever he desires. Of course, he never came.

In only a matter of time, the alarm rang in the building. All the lights came back on, and Mike threw the head off right away as the night ended. He struggled to get out of the suit, but eventually, he was able to get out. Once he was out, he stretched his arms and legs, relieved to be out of the tight space.

"Man, that thing's tight. I don't want to go in there ever again," says Mike, rubbing his head. "So, nothing for the entire second half of the night, I'm guessing. At least, nothing after Mangle, you know."

"Yeah, I know," I reply, listening to the front door opening. "Just run out of here. If you survive the week and don't move back to the day shift, I'll probably kill you."

He glared at me, clearly annoyed.

"Okay, that came out wrong. Whatever. But you have to move back to the day shift after this week," I tell him.

"Yeah, yeah, I will," he says, starting toward the exit.

The front door opened, and someone entered. To nobody's surprise, it was Darian. Without exchanging any words, the two guards passed each other—Darian headed to the office and Mike leaving the building.

A few more hours passed, and soon the building was crowded with families. It was noticeably larger than the usual Thursday crowd—Thursdays were always the emptiest day of the week, but today, there was not one table that a family did not occupy.

In a way, it felt as if Gold could do nothing—he could only scare Darian away from the office, but then what would happen after that? He couldn't leave the west side of the building in the middle of a crowded day.

As I did my usual roaming around the dining area, I decided to, once again, check on Mangle. Expecting him/her to just be another jumble of pieces on the floor, I was quite surprised to see the thing hanging just out of the children's reach. I watched as the toddlers stared up, trying to find a way to reach him/her. Unfortunately, it looked as if there was no way for Mangle to get down without something going wrong.

"Can you get down here?" I ask, but I knew that there was no point—he/she couldn't answer my question.

Still, the Mangle moved slightly, hinting that perhaps he/she did want to get down. The group of toddlers present stood in place, refusing to make way.

"They're not going to move," I tell him/her. "Just try to get down, and hopefully nothing happens."

Mangle's grip began to loosen as he/she inched his/her way downward. Shaking, nearing the reach of the toddlers, he/she neared the normality that was being taken apart and put back together again.

But Mangle snapped once, and he/she started swinging, his/her teeth dangerously close to the toddlers. A bit too close for comfort.

Then Mangle began to lose his/her grip, teeth pointed toward the floor, straight at one of the toddlers who was standing directly beneath him/her. Right before Mangle let go, I jumped out and shoved the toddler out of the way.

The Mangle landed on top of me, and I crumpled to the floor, at least satisfied that nobody was hurt in the incident.

Then everything went black as a single scream broke out in the building, a faint garbled voice playing over in my head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone! And thus starts the second half of Part 3.
> 
> This took a lot longer than I expected. From here on out it should just be write, write, write. But since everything happens in the next few chapters, I'm getting really picky with how I want to describe things.
> 
> But ooh, looks like Bonnie is in a bit of trouble right now!


	27. Chapter 27

I woke up again in Parts & Service, everything just a mere blur in front of me. I tried moving, and I was on my feet in no time, only to stumble forward and crumple back to the floor. I placed my hand in front of me and tried to focus on it, but the only thing I could see was a blue streak.

Someone entered the room, and through the open doorway, I saw a corridor that looked somewhat like the main hallway. Still on my knees, I tried turning my head to see who it was, only for the figure to grab my mask and pull it straight off. My vision cleared up slightly, but it was still not enough to risk trying to navigate the place. “He’s not supposed to be on right now,” he says loudly, most likely so someone else he may have brought along could hear.

“It’s fine. Just go ahead with this,” says another, the voice coming from the main hallway. They were probably some of the engineers.

Unable to observe what was going on, I only listened to the sound of footsteps leaving the room, the owner of the sound taking my mask with him. About a minute later, he returned and locked the mask back onto my costume. My vision became clear, but it still wasn’t as clear as what I was used to seeing.

The two men in the main hallway turned their backs to me and left. I tried to say something, but no sound came out. I reached for my neck and tried to speak up again, but was met with the same response: silence.

After waiting for several more minutes, I saw Freddy and Chica both appear in the main hallway. Once they saw me, both of them rushed toward me. “What happened?” Freddy asks the moment he steps in the room. “All we saw was you in a… pretty bad state. I don’t want to think of it right now.”

I pointed at my neck, where my voice box should be, and moved my jaw several times to try to send them the message that I can’t speak. Fortunately, Freddy was able to get it right away.

“Oh,” he says, observing everything in the room. “Well, it also had something to do with Mangle. At least that’s what I was able to see when it happened. Now nobody knows where that fox is.”

I stood back up and tried to regain my balance. I started off a bit shaky, and I had to grab the door frame in order to stay on my feet, but soon enough, I was standing. I tried to take a step forward, only to end up back down on my knees.

Freddy tried to help me up, grabbing my shoulders. Once I was back up, I started forward with my left foot. The step barely carried me forward a few inches. Then I tried the other foot, doing the same thing. As it passed beside my other leg, I took my hand off the door frame, regaining my balance.

“I’m guessing they’re not finished working on you yet,” says Freddy. “If you can’t speak and can barely walk, then I doubt you’ll be back out there tomorrow. Man, you’ve been out much more often than the three of us.”

I simply shrugged in front of him and sluggishly navigated my way to the hallway, facing the office. When I glanced inside each of the party rooms, I found all the old animatronics in the one leading to the left vent.

Turning around to face Freddy, I pointed at my wrist.

“You want the time?” asks Freddy. I nodded in response.

“The place has been closed for a while now,” answers Freddy. “I believe it’s about half past eleven right now, Mike’s fourth night.”

The front door opened. I tried to walk toward where the old animatronics were, stumbling along the way. Old Chica was the first to notice me—she sprinted out of the room and pulled me in. I took a seat, seeing all their curious faces—except Old Bonnie, of course. “Tell us everything that happened earlier today,” says Old Chica.

Silence. I tried my best to send them the message that I couldn’t speak, doing the same thing I did with Freddy and Chica. It seemed to work, as Old Freddy was the first to speak up. “He can’t talk,” says Old Freddy. “Whatever. We’ll have him tell us when he’s all fixed. For now, we’re back to focusing on Gold.”

Mike passed by us in the hallway, shooting a quick glance at us as he entered the office. He sat slumped in the chair with his feet on top of the desk and the tablet resting on his lap. It seemed as if he were tired—he looked like he wasn’t going to move from that spot anytime soon.

The lights soon went out, signifying that Mike’s shift has just started. Mike, still slouching in his chair, allowed his legs to slide off the desk as he reached for the flashlight. I left the party room, still stumbling around—I still needed something to grab onto as I walked.

As I continued to watch Mike inside the office, I saw him glance at the corner of the room and jump back a bit. However, he regained his composure after only a few seconds. “There goes Gold again, using his same old tricks,” he says.

I moved on to the main hallway, where I expected Freddy, Chica, and Mangle to be. When I turned the corner, I wasn’t surprised—of course they were all there. Mangle still hung from the ceiling in a jumble of parts, while Freddy and Chica just stood there waiting.

“Look, let’s just forget everything that happened earlier today and try to get Mike through his night, okay?” says Chica.

Freddy still seemed a bit frustrated that they couldn’t figure everything out. He covered his face with one hand, but his expression seemed to disappear right away when Gold turned up in the open doorway to Parts & Service. His jaw hung open, and his head cocked to the side as usual.

I felt something tug on my right arm, and soon something was dragging me down the hallway toward the office. Struggling to keep up, I saw that Chica had grabbed my arm, and she was looking back to see what was going on with Freddy and Gold.

When I looked back at Gold, he took a swing at Freddy, but Freddy managed to duck under and take off toward us. Gold, as expected, followed closely behind him.

Before Freddy could reach us, he tripped and went tumbling down to the ground, flailing his arms to try to regain his balance as if there was still hoped for him.

But there was no way he could recover. He fell flat on his face, Gold towering straight over him. He grabbed Freddy’s ankles and started dragging him back to Parts & Service. Freddy struggled to break free, but Gold managed to maintain his grip.

Old Freddy and Foxy bolted straight out of the party room they were in and sprinted down the hallway just as Freddy began to disappear around the corner. Chica let go of my arm, and I began limping down the hallway after them. Old Bonnie watched from their party room before he also took off down the hallway, leaving Old Chica, Mangle, and Mike at the office.

As usual, everyone stopped just outside Parts & Service. No one dared to enter while unable to see anything. I turned back and looked inside the office, finding Mike on the tablet. Hopefully, he was viewing Parts & Service.

Without any warning, he slammed the tablet down on the desk, grabbed the flashlight and the Fazbear head, and dashed down the hallway toward all of us. Just as I was about to reach Old Bonnie, Mike was already jostling his way to the front.

He pointed the flashlight inside and took a deep breath, preparing to enter the room again. Before entering, he shone the flashlight inside the room to show nothing.

Something flashed in the corner of my vision. Out of curiosity, I decided to leave the others alone to look into Parts & Service and focus my attention on what was over to the side. It disappeared just as fast as it had appeared, and it seemed to come from one of the party rooms.

I walked through the doorway and found nothing. The room seemed completely empty. Still believing that there was something inside, I observed every inch, every corner of the back wall.

“Looking for something?” a deep, menacing voice says from behind as I turned to leave the room. It pulled me back around to face Gold standing in the middle of the room. I tried to back off almost instantly.

I was about to call him out, but then I remembered that my voice box wasn’t functioning properly. If I try to reach them from here, I won’t be able to carry myself all the way before Gold reaches me. With no other choice, I slowly began to back out of the room with my hands in front of me.

“You’ve left me with no choice,” says Gold. “This place. You all treat it like a fun house. You all think of it as some place where a kid can just be oneself. ‘A magical place _for children and adults alike_ where fantasy and fun come to life’.”

He began to approach me once he realized that the distance between the two of us was growing. He continued to ramble on, though I didn’t pay attention to him for the most part—I was more focused on getting out and somehow grabbing the others’ attention without having him catch me first.

“Well, I say different! I don’t call it a place where fantasy and fun come to life. Rather, I’d call it a simple death trap _for children and adults alike_! How many night guards have gone missing since the year 1987? Even children have died before all those incidents! You may have accused me of doing it, but where is your evidence?” His voice had nearly reached a shout, echoing throughout the hallway. I wasn’t so surprised when I turned my head to my right and saw everyone watching.

“Bonnie!” Old Freddy calls out. He was about to take off toward us until I stopped him by holding my hand up.

There was a small scuffle in the crowd, and both Mike and Old Bonnie appeared in front. I turned back to Gold to see him facing the others as well, though he had only turned his head—his body was still facing me.

Silence took over the others, and Mike gasped suddenly as Old Bonnie lunged forward straight at us. The others tried to stop him, but he was already out of everyone’s reach by the time they could react. He seemed to point to my left.

When I turned back to face Gold, I saw that he was only an arm’s length away from me. He held his hand up and seemed to reach for my face until a quick streak of lavender flooded my vision. I felt a sudden impact on my chest, and soon I was lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. My vision became blurry once again, becoming nothing but darkness and streaks of yellow from the lights. I squeezed my eyes shut.

Rolling over on my side and opening my eyes again, I found something lavender lying on the floor, limp and lifeless. Several images flickered in front of me as a familiar jingle, one that I had remembered every single detail about, started to play. The familiar music box tone reached my ears as my vision started to fade away into blackness. Nothing but an endless void.

I heard the sound of several footsteps around me. Shouting erupted nearby, and I felt something grab my shoulder and drag me to a separate room. I couldn’t see anything, so I hadn’t a clue as to who it was or where they were taking me.

In front of me, an image of Gold began to flicker. One that I have seen several times before, on a poster. I tried to stand up on my own, but I couldn’t even get up on all fours. I was left lying down on the floor.

My vision returned to just blackness as the noises in the hallway began to fade away. They seemed to become more distant, though I knew that whatever was going on out there hadn’t come anywhere near stopping yet—if anything, the pace was just accelerating.

I covered my face with my hands. I couldn’t do anything until someone comes and check up on me, so I just lay there, trying to listen to the last of what was going on outside.

All the noises came to a halt, as it seemed the world had also stopped moving.

Then my vision returned to me.

I was on a stage.


	28. Chapter 28

I observed my surroundings. The place looked old and run-down as usual. Freddy and Chica both stood to my left, just like they normally did as we all patiently waited for the clock to strike twelve.

Once the clock finally did strike twelve, I left the stage first just like normal. The first place I went was the office, but as I walked down the hallway, I noticed that a giant metal door was blocking my path. I peered into the room through the window to find that the other door was shut as well.

I waited outside patiently for someone to open the door, but something in the corner of the hall grabbed my attention. Instead of the usual poster, Freddy's face seemed more yellow—golden, in a way. A little girl's laugh echoed throughout the building, making me jump back.

A deep, soft, garbled voice seemed to come from inside the office. I pounded on the door, as if demanding entry, but still nobody answered. I then resorted to using the window to peer inside the room, finding a golden figure slumped over, facing something inside the office. It faded away into nothingness seconds later.

Freddy appeared at the end of the hallway, emerging from the dining area. I could only see his silhouette under the single light in the hallway. His eyes, as usual, were clearly visible in the dark, just two simple white dots.

I pounded on the closed door again, yet nobody answered. Turning back to Freddy, I found that he had come closer. He usually didn't come to this side of the building. He was supposed to stay on the east side of the building—the only exception was whenever the power ran out.

He looked me in the eye, his face only about arm's length away from me and half-lit on the left side. As I stared at him, his face began to melt into something else. His eyes turned golden as his jaw hung open. I turned back to the poster for a brief moment to find out that it had returned to normal.

Keeping an eye on him, I navigated around him to the dining area. The camera in the room beeped, but there was no room to think about what was in that office with whatever was happening to Freddy in that hallway. It's probably best I don't find out.

From the hallway emerged a large figure. The golden figure approached me, shooting a quick glance at the cove as it passed by. Right away, Foxy bolted out of the curtains and sprinted straight down to the office.

Turning back to the 'Golden Freddy', I only felt something grab my chest before he lifted me off the floor. He hurled me across the room, and as a result, I landed on top of a table, on top of numerous party hats.

As I rolled off the table, I knocked over several chairs in the process. Looking up, I saw the figure as if he were about to flatten me. It landed just inches from me and didn't waste any time—right away, Golden Freddy had me pinned against a wall. Clearly, he wasn't worried at all about any of the others finding him.

He first reached for my face and tore it clean off, leaving an agglomeration of wires exposed. The costume's eyes went with the mask as Golden Freddy hurled it across the dining area. I crumpled to the floor when his grip on me loosened to also feel a tug on my left arm. Something snapped, and I lost control of my arm as Golden Freddy continued to tear it off.

As I struggled beneath his weight, I barely caught sight of another figure hauling Golden Freddy off me. Something grabbed my right shoulder and tried to help me up. Struggling to keep my balance, I leaned against the wall as I approached the restrooms.

I entered one of the rooms, grabbing the door frame to keep my balance. The mirror was only a few feet away, but there was not enough light in the room—I couldn't see myself in the mirror.

Suddenly, I'm lying down in another dark room. Not the restrooms, not backstage, but somewhere else. Someone entered the room, revealing daylight outside. I tried to stand up, but nothing would respond. I had lost connection to everything.

Two people came in—I could tell they were human from their silhouettes. A light in the room turned on, blinding me temporarily. They wheeled in something else along with them, something that took the shape of an animatronic. It looked like an empty costume, though it looked as if it were made of a different material. It was light blue, and the face seemed to resemble mine closely—the most notable similarity was the ears.

The two faded away, along with the costume standing in the middle of the room. I gasped and snapped my head back, almost hitting it against the back wall. Somehow, I managed to spring to my feet and sprint for the door, which I just noticed had also disappeared—it was just an open doorway now.

Freddy appeared outside the room. I skidded to a halt when I saw him and began wondering how long I was out, even though there was something more urgent at hand. "Where's your counterpart?" I blurt out before he could say anything. "I've got something I need to tell him, I think I know what he's been hinting at now!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" says Freddy, holding his hands in front of him. "They're all in the office. As for how long you've been out, it's been all day. You always have to damage yourself every night, do you?"

Ignoring him, I immediately bolted down the hallway toward the office. I saw Old Freddy, Old Chica, and Foxy all inside the room, but Old Bonnie was not present.

I reached the office, using the desk to stop myself. "Such in a rush," says Old Chica.

"Whatever," I reply, turning to Old Freddy. "Where's Bonnie?" I ask him.

Old Freddy just buried his face in his hands as he sat in the chair. He seemed to be under a lot of stress. "Parts & Service," he says. "What, weren't you just there? I though you out of all of us would know what happened to him last night."

As I looked back down the hallway, I spotted Freddy heading back to the stage. I arrived in Parts & Service several seconds after he left the main hallway, using the one single light in the room to find Old Bonnie. Of course, he was leaning against a wall in a corner, but his face was, once again, a complete mess of wires. There were no red dots where his eyes would usually be, telling me that he wasn't on right now.

I shook my head, and left the room—I couldn't stand the sight of him in his withered state. I simply went back to the office and met up with the other old animatronics. "So, I think I know what you might have been hinting at lately," I tell Old Freddy.

"Oh? And what is that?" he asks, looking up at me.

"That I was there when everything happened. I was there during that incident, I was there during the bite. I was there the entire time the old place was up," I try to explain, taking a pause before mentioning the most important part. "In a different costume."

Old Freddy nodded and sighed, clearly thinking about what he should say. He even opened his jaw a few times before he closed it and decided against what he was going to say.

Finally, some words came from him. "Yeah, that's right," he says.

"You knew?" I asked.

Old Freddy responded with a slight shrug. "Not exactly. I didn't know if it was for sure until just now."

"Then why didn't you tell me about it? Oh, we all could have fixed so many things if you told everyone before," I say, half-annoyed.

"I'm sorry," he quickly responds. "I knew you wouldn't believe me if I did tell you. Who would think that you were in a different costume in the old place? I couldn't just say that you were there back then and now you have no recollection of what happened there."

I realized he was right. Anyone in their right mind wouldn't have believed him if he said I was in Old Bonnie's costume years before this place reopened. "So that's why I had both the murder and the bite played out right in front of me bit by bit."

"Hmm, perhaps," he says. "It's been fifteen years now. My memory's a bit foggy at this point, even if I did spend most of my time powered off. Gold really dealt a number on us for those few months of continuously dispatching guard after guard."

"Right." I held out the word for a few seconds to show displeasure from how he spoke of those events. "Nineteen, but who could blame you? He more or less just brainwashed you four."

"Aye, lad, could ya even guess what tha' number would be if you didn't try to stop us?" Foxy jumps in. He could tell that thinking of all those guards was bothering me.

I turned toward him to find him with his eye patch flipped up. "Twenty-six?" I guess after thinking about how many weeks it's been since the place opened.

Foxy just shrugged, telling me he probably lost count to the number of night guards this building has had since it reopened. "I would have said higher, but that'll do," he says. "At least you got the point. Just stop thinkin' 'bout what went wrong and think about what went the right way. On the bright side, some people are still alive because of you four."

"Bonnie?" Freddy says as he enters the room, interrupting. "Mike just entered for his fifth night. He wants to see you. He says he's worried about you after everything that happened last night."

"Where is he?" I ask right away, turning away from the old animatronics.

"In the dining area."

I rushed down there right away. I didn't break out into a sprint. Rather, I just paced myself down the two hallways before appearing in the doorway to the dining area, facing Mike. He had pulled up a seat in the room and was staring at the clock in the room, which stated that it was 11:40.

Rather than pulling up another chair and sitting beside him, I decided to just head over to the stage and allow my legs to dangle off the edge. I felt the floorboard, a surface that I haven't stood on for days now due to constant need of repair. I should take better care of myself.

Thinking back to that incident just a couple of days ago when Mangle fell on me, I pondered over what would have happened if I hadn't jumped in front of him/her. Even if Mangle's teeth weren't nearly as sharp as Foxy's, they could still cause some severe damage.

But what was Mangle doing up there to begin with? He/she isn't supposed to climb at day, and despite being a jumble of parts arranged in the most awkward way possible, he/she knows much better.

"Well, at least you should be fine now. Nothing wrong?" Mike speaks up, breaking my train of thought.

"Huh?" I say, looking up to see him with a grin on his face in the middle of the dining area. "Oh. Yeah, everything's fine. As far as I know, they've fixed everything. I should be back out here tomorrow."

Mike just nodded and allowed the restaurant to fall silent once again. Why would Mangle climb up when there are children around? Surely, he/she knew what could go wrong, and I highly doubted it was because he/she was tired of always having kids taking him/her apart.

Looking around the east side of the building and listening for Mangle's radio static, I heard nothing. I decided to check on the cove, and completely ignoring the sign that said 'OUT OF ORDER', I pulled back the curtains to find the place empty. Rushing back to Parts & Service, I checked to see if he/she was there, but no one was in the room except Old Bonnie. They removed Mangle.

The clock in the dining area kept ticking, and after about five minutes, Mike stood up and started down the hallway toward the office. Once he had entered the main hallway, I followed him in and he closed the door, dividing the building. We're all stuck on the west side for the night.

Mike held a flashlight in one of his hands and snuck another into my left. As we approached the office, all the old animatronics cleared the room, leaving the tablet on the desk and the Fazbear head sitting beside it. Checking Parts & Service again for a brief moment, I found the Freddy Fazbear suit once again filled with wires and crossbars.

After another few minutes of waiting in anxiety, the lights finally went out to signal the start of Mike's fifth night.


	29. Chapter 29

This is it. This has to be Mike's last night—Gold's last chance to get what he wants from him. There is no way Mike would come back for a sixth night, let alone another week.

Finding a flashlight in my left hand, I decided not to question how it got there and instead decided to use it wisely. The thing flashed for a split second before I decided to turn it off, because I knew that there was no way Gold could reach us without giving off some sort of audio cue. It could be the garbled voice that surrounded the building every night, or it could be as simple as a thud or a heavy footstep.

I decided to stay near the office, as it was the only place where the lights were actually on. I could see five more animatronics either inside or somewhere near the office, the only two missing being Old Bonnie and Mangle. Even if it was just those two, one from each generation, the place felt almost empty.

For a few minutes, nothing happened. The only noises came from Foxy treading around the office at a steady pace. Nobody dared to go near Parts & Service, as it was most likely the place Gold will appear first.

The first thing that caught my attention was a thud in the left vent. I looked at Mike and Foxy, and both of them seemed concerned. Mike pointed his flashlight at the vent and turned it on before relaxing, allowing his shoulders to weigh him down again. "Really, Chica?"

"Sorry!" exclaims Chica. She seemed to want to say more, but decided to keep her mouth shut as she proceeded to enter the office and looped back around to the party room to the left.

A dark figure, another shadow, appeared in the office. I paid no attention to it—even though it has only been a few days since the first time we encountered it, it was already beginning to grow old. The model of the figure still closely resembled me, so it was possible that Gold put it there just to target me.

The phone in the office rang, causing almost everyone in the office to jump back impulsively from the abrupt ringing. Mike ducked under the desk, but when he recuperated, the reached over the desk and grabbed the phone from the desk, pressing it up against his ear. "Hello?" he asks.

At first, Mike looked as if he were pondering over something, but as the seconds passed and he continued listening without responding, he just seemed to become more puzzled. His eyes widened, and he removed the phone from his ear and set it back down.

Taking the flashlight from the desk, he flashed it down the hallway for a split second, revealing Gold at the far end. He was about to set the thing back down on the desk, but then he snapped and pointed the flashlight down the hallway again. Gold was a bit closer to the office.

Keeping him frozen where he was by holding the light on him, Mike turned toward me. I turned to Mike to find that no one was watching Gold. "How are we supposed to do this?" asks Mike.

Peering back down the hallway, I found that Gold had disappeared from the hallway. He's still somewhere on the west side of the building, but no one would be able to search for him alone unless they desire a fate similar to Old Bonnie's.

Mike decided to pull up the tablet and try to find him with the cameras, but he was only met with a black screen with the map of the building in the bottom-right corner. Even the audio was disabled.

Setting the device back down on the desk, he turned toward all of us in the office. It was just Foxy, Old Chica, and me—Freddy and Old Freddy were both in one of the party rooms on the right, and Chica was in one on the left.

Giving him a quick nod, I signaled for everyone to move out of the office. Moving in a single group, the four of us picked up the other three animatronics in the building.

The first room we checked was the far left party room. There was nothing inside worth taking note of, so we all decided not to waste our time investigating and decided to move on to the other party room. Holding his flashlight, Mike pointed it into the other room to reveal a blur of gold retreating into the darkness.

He turned his head toward me and looked me in the eye, pointing inside the room. I nodded, and he began to lead all of us into the single room. As we were about to enter, Gold bolted straight out of the room, bumping into the wall as he moved to a new location.

All of us jumped back when we saw the golden figure moving, nothing but a mere blur in the black void. Old Freddy started chasing after him after he regained himself. He was already out of everyone's reach when we realized that he had gone after Gold.

Dashing into Parts & Service, the rest of us had no choice but to follow him. Should he face Gold alone, he wouldn't stand a chance, but maybe the rest of us could offer a bit of support.

Mike kept his flashlight on and pointed it into Parts & Service, revealing Old Freddy's backside—he was probably facing Gold.

He kept the light on as we all entered the room. Freddy lunged at Gold with his arms out, but before he could grab him, Gold just faded away from view. Rather than spreading around the restaurant like we usually did whenever Gold disappeared, we decided to remain in one group.

"I could have taken him!" Old Freddy says.

"No you couldn't have," says Freddy. "Believe me, I may be younger, but I know that it's going to take everything we've got just to get out unharmed."

"No reason for that," says Old Freddy. "My years out there have been over for a long time."

Freddy just shrugged. "Whatever you say. But just remember that they repaired you guys for a reason. They wouldn't have repaired you guys if they didn't have a reason to do so. I don't know, maybe they're going to put you back out there?"

We all started down toward the office, keeping our mouths shut while Freddy and Old Freddy continued bickering behind us. Gazing into the office, I could barely catch a glimpse of Gold in a slumped over position before he faded away.

"Turn around," I say, interrupting Freddy in the middle of a sentence. I turned around and pushed my way to the back of the group.

"Why?" asks Mike as I pass by him.

I snatched Mike's flashlight from his hands and turned it off. "I just saw Gold in the office. He disappeared, and he's probably going to appear somewhere near Parts & Service."

"How do you know where he'll reappear?"

"I don't."

"Great," moans Freddy. "Let's just listen to the guy who's always busy damaging himself."

"Shush!" I retort. "Listen."

In the dead silence of the building, I could barely pick up the sound of the garbled voice Gold always seems to carry around wherever he went. It was quite the same as Mangle's radio static in that there seemed to be no way he could stop it. If he could, that he would have done it a long time ago.

Old Freddy pointed toward the far left party room and glanced at us. Most of us nodded and proceeded toward the entrance of the room, the voice growing slightly louder. As expected, the golden figure stood in the middle of the room, eyes blank with his head cocked to the side. Staring through the open eye sockets, I could barely catch sight of an endoskeleton still inside the suit, the same one Old Freddy stuffed inside the costume.

Gold has to know that there's no way he can take on all six of us at once. He was able to take out Old Bonnie because no one was near enough to help when it happened—I was incapacitated, and the closest animatronic was at the other end of the hallway.

He seemed to be contemplating on whether or not he should attack us, as he did stand there for quite a while without moving an inch. We all entered the room and blocked off the exit as he continued to just stand there, staring at all of us.

The empty eye sockets flickered with bright yellow dots for a split second, and soon Gold was bouncing all over the room. At first, he started off as nothing but a mere blur, but after a few seconds, I could easily track his movements in the room.

After he had slowed down a fair bit, we all proceeded into the room. Rather than facing us all at once, he took the chance he had to flee the room. Foxy tried to latch onto him with his hook, but came up empty.

Gold took off down the main hallway, and all of us had no choice but to follow him down there. He was effectively trapping himself at the end of that hallway.

We all darted to the main hallway, and I caught sight of Gold trying to break down the door as I rounded the corner. I picked up my pace to try to catch him before he could escape, but as I was about to reach him, the door swung open, opening up the east side of the building.

Great. How can we handle having to search an area twice the size as before? As Old Freddy was about to proceed to enter the dining area, I grabbed his arm and stopped him. "He's trying to separate us," I say.

"Your point?" asks Old Freddy.

"He knows as much as we do that he doesn't stand a chance facing all of us at once. Opening up a greater area to search encourages us to spread out and search individually so he can pick us off one by one," I explain. "You saw what happened to my counterpart because no one was near him."

"Perhaps," says Old Freddy. "So what should we do?"

I shrugged, split between the two possibilities. We could either keep the east side of the building off-limits, or we could expand our search to also include the east side. Either way, we would all be moving in one group.

I sighed, a little frustrated that I couldn't come to a conclusion. If we start searching the east side of the building, we're more likely to find Gold, but we're also taking a greater risk. The dining area is the most open part of the building, and with barely any light, there are so many spots Gold can hide in.

On the other hand, I told myself that this would be the last night. If we don't search the east side, then this may never end, but it would ensure that none of us get hurt.

Observing the group, I came to a decision. "Let's go," I say, turning toward the dining area. A little girl's laughter, another noise I had associated with Gold, rang throughout the dining area.

"I think he wants us to go there," says Mike.

"Then let's give him what he wants," I reply.

I tossed the flashlight in my hand a few inches in the air and caught it as it came down. Pointing it into the void and turning it on, I glanced at Mike to check if he was ready. He seemed nervous, and he inhaled and exhaled deeply, also pointing his flashlight through the doorway. Slowly, he nodded, but I wasn't sure if he really was ready. It didn't matter though—we were already heading out.

As we walked toward the middle of the dining area, both beams from our flashlights flew all over the room—we tried to cover as much area as we possibly could in a short time, so we couldn't spend so much time checking one spot before we had to move on to the next. Of course, even though the space is so open, there are so many nooks and crannies where one can hide in, so none of us could even predict how long this search would take.

Following the faint garbled voice, I had already come to the conclusion that we wouldn't have to search any of the other rooms. It seemed to come from somewhere near the stage, so I spent a good chunk of my time pointing my flashlight around the stage.

I decided to take us backstage. Very briefly, I ran a check to make sure we were all still in one piece. Good. No one has been hurt yet.

"Looking for someone?" a voice says as I turn the door handle.

I froze on the spot and gradually turned around. The voice was too familiar, and there was no way it could belong to any of us seven.

Almost splitting off from the group, I trotted over to the middle of the dining area to find that someone turned on the stage lights.

And in the middle of the floorboard stood Gold.

I had to crane my neck in order to be able to get a good view on him. Suddenly, he is no longer on the stage, but I did catch sight of a mere blur moving toward the kitchen. I pointed my flashlight toward the kitchen, and sure enough, there he was, standing only a few meters from the seven of us.

No questions are to be asked right now. There was no time, and I highly doubted Gold would listen to reason. Even after we've attempted to persuade him against attacking any of us, his goal has never changed: to close down the pizzeria.

We were all stuck where we were. Any attempt by us to move to a new location and avoid him will only end up with him scattering us around the building, giving him the ability to pick each of us off one by one. Any attempt by us to attack him would only cause us to extend our search. Any attempt he would make to attack us would end up with him in a pile.

So all of us stood there frozen. Gold stared at us with yellow orbs in his eye sockets, barely revealing an endoskeleton inside his costume. We kept our eyes on him, watching for any movement. Gold didn't even twitch.

Gold turned his back on us and started sprinting toward the dining area. We all followed him, though I saw that occasionally, he glanced at us during his run, trying to find out the location of each of us. He rounded the corner to the main hallway, but as I was about to follow him down, he reappeared in the doorway and bolted straight past me. I flung an arm out aimlessly, turning around to see Gold taking Foxy straight to the ground. He tried to flee, but not even Foxy could outrun Gold.

Holding Foxy by the neck, Gold used him as a shield against us, but he also had his left hand up as if he were threatening to tear Foxy's head off the rest of his endoskeleton. He scanned each one of us, and again, we were stuck in another standoff, all of us knowing well enough what would happen if one of us moved first.

Still holding Foxy and facing us, he began to creep toward the main hallway. Foxy seemed to be terrified, his arms reaching up at Gold in a vain attempt to break free. He even tried to bite Gold's arm once, but his pointed teeth could only swipe at air.

Then Gold raised his left hand and reached behind Foxy's neck. Frozen in place, we all watched in trepidation as Foxy's golden eyes began to dim. Gold kept his mouth shut and continued to inch toward the main hallway. Catching onto his movements, I positioned myself in the doorway to prevent him from reaching the main hallway. It wasn't a very smart move—I was straying away from the group, but I felt that I could bend the rules a bit, as I was only a few meters away from them.

Gold stopped in his tracks, allowing Foxy to just simply slump over his shoulder, seemingly unconscious. The last of the fading glow in his eyes died out, becoming nothing but two barely visible yellow beads in the obscure building.

Mike shined his flashlight at Gold's back, and I could see his silhouette, the figure still completely black from the side I was watching from. Gold's eyes flickered yellow for a split second before returning to emptiness.

Though he was a bit shorter than me, the silhouette still made him look intimidating. He pulled his arms back and flung Foxy as far as he could across the room, and he collapsed to the floor, lifeless. I tried to look past him to see the others, and I could barely catch sight of all of them, frozen in place. Barely, I could hear several whispers among the group, but I was too far away to comprehend any of it—to me, it just sounded like a series of mumbles.

It came to my mind that Gold would probably try to attack me next, as his goal has been to take us out one at a time while avoiding confronting us when we were in a group. It was easy to catch onto, but as much as something was pulling at me, telling me to get back to the others, I knew that I couldn't, lest I risk deactivation from Gold.

I stood still and waited for him to make a move, though he also remained where he was for a long time. I began to wonder what the time was, and if we'll be able to get anything done tonight before the clock strikes six.

Growing impatient, I allowed my foot to slide over to the right a little bit. Gold's head turned, but other than that, he remained still.

After waiting a few more seconds, I lunged to the right before quickly stopping myself, changing direction as Gold also lunged forward, his hand barely missing my leg. I could've sworn his hand brushed my leg, but he couldn't grab onto me. Staying low, I sprinted back to the others. Mike still had the flashlight turned on, which gave me a good idea on when I should stop myself.

Something wrapped around my leg, causing me to trip and fall onto my knees. The flashlight I was holding fell to the floor, and listening to the noise that followed, the batteries most likely popped out.

Before I could even react to the fall, something pulled me back, away from the others. Chica and Freddy both came forward and grabbed each of my arms.

"Stop," I tell them, knowing that Gold had hold of my leg, and that he would probably pull the entire leg off before he lets go. Freddy and Chica both let go of my arms, but they showed no signs of backing off.

Gold's grip on my leg tightened, causing me to grit my teeth slightly, and he began to drag me toward Parts & Service. He left Foxy in a heap on the floor, which I found strange because I thought he would also take him to Parts & Service.

The second I passed the doorway, Gold decided to drop me on the floor, my leg landing with a dull thud on the checkered floor. He then scrambled straight out of the room, leaving me alone.

I propped myself up on one elbow and peered out of the room to the best of my ability. Nothing was moving in the hall, and it felt as if the entire restaurant had gone dead silent. The others didn't try to come down the main hallway, which meant Gold was either blocking their path or threatening them again.

After a few minutes, Gold returned to the room with Foxy leaning against him—I could tell it was him just by seeing their outlines. "You stayed," he says as if it wasn't what he was expecting. "I would've expected you to try to find a way to get back to the others."

"Wasn't even thinking about it." The words just seemed to slip out of my mouth. I sat up on the floor, resting my elbows on my knees.

"Good, because you're not going to have to worry about the others once all this is over." He set Foxy down, leaning him on the wall next to where I predicted Old Bonnie was.

A faint song began playing from the dining area. Though I had only heard it once since Gold lost his grip on all the old animatronics, I have already learned to treat it like it was a rescue call. It signified Old Freddy's approach, though judging from the fact that it wasn't growing any louder, I concluded that they weren't coming, at least not yet.

"So weak-minded that old generation is. No wonder it was so easy to tap into them, until they realized what was going on and decided to turn against me. It seems you've inherited a few of their traits, too. That's good to know," says Gold. He kneeled down next to Foxy and activated him before reaching for something else in the dark. He was probably activating Old Bonnie as well.

Gold towered over me, and I looked up at him while trying to keep all the fear I've been compressing from showing. He forced me up, grabbing my arm and pulling it up. "I'm not going to fight you," I say.

It was true. I wasn't willing to fight Gold alone. It just wasn't possible to take him on alone. "Well, of course you're not going to fight me. You wouldn't stand a chance."

Foxy rose to his feet, and stared straight at me, though I felt somewhere that the expression he wore in his glowing yellow eyes just wasn't him. Old Bonnie also emerged from the void, two tiny red dots in the place his eyes were. Again, it just did not seem like him.

An idea soon came to my mind, though I was afraid of accepting the truth, if it was. I turned my head to Gold and gave him a puzzled look, though I was far from puzzled, and he knew it. Regardless, he still told me what he was doing. "You'll be fighting these two."


	30. Chapter 30

Both of them stared at me with blank expressions, waiting for me to make a move. I still stood there, paralyzed after finding out what Gold really did to these two, and it was probably his reason for targeting the old animatronics.

No. I can't fight them. I won't fight them. Maybe if it were two weeks ago, I would be willing to fight them, but now, the thought of fighting them was almost unbearable. It's amazing how much things can change in only a short week.

Old Freddy's jungle continued to play faintly in the dining area, the volume remaining stable and not fluctuating. They're not going anywhere, at least not yet, I hoped.

But the location of the others—there's only four of them now, five if Mike is included—isn't important. What is important now is how I'm supposed to handle both Foxy and Old Bonnie without damaging them severely or, in Old Bonnie's case, without worsening his condition. They have no control over themselves.

Someone appeared in the main hallway, but it was too dark to see any facial features. It wasn't Mike—the figure's too short to be Mike. Judging by the outline, I guessed it was most likely Freddy. Whoever it was just stood there, and it seemed as though he or she was facing us. I didn't know why, as it was impossible to clearly see what was going on inside this room from outside.

Turning back to Foxy and Old Bonnie, I saw that they have approached closer and were sluggishly closing the distance between us. I don't know where I'm supposed to find the courage to fight these two—perhaps I may not even fight these two at all and just try to last the rest of the night unscathed.

Trying my best to avoid any fighting, I started out the room. I didn't run, but I did hurry myself in case something would throw itself at me.

When I reached the doorway, Foxy launched himself straight toward me, giving me only a split second to react. The lack of light only served as a catalyst to my destruction. It was this action that turned my goal into just getting out of the night without any damage.

Breaking out into a sprint, I took off not down the main hallway, but down toward the office. I was already headed in that direction, and I decided that I didn't have enough time to take the risk of trying to change direction and head back to the others. Also, with all the noise in this part of the building, they'll probably come when they realize what's going on.

I took a quick glance behind myself and found that Foxy was still on my tail. I knew that no one can outrun Foxy—not even in a vision have I seen someone beat Foxy in a footrace.

It left me no choice but to fight him, which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid, and I'm pretty sure Gold also knows that I'm trying to avoid any fights.

I whipped around and swung my fist at where I predicted his jaw would be in the blackness. I felt it connect with something, and the clash of metal hitting metal echoed in the hallway. Not wanting to know what part of Foxy I had just hit, I decided to turn away and continue on my path toward the office. Hopefully the noise would have alarmed the others.

Once I arrived in the office, I checked behind myself to see if I was followed. Expecting to see one of the two when I looked into the hallway, it was to my surprise when I found out that no one was following me. A loud groan came from the hallway, along with a few footsteps that slowed down and eventually came to a stop, but that was it.

"Please, someone show up," I whisper to myself, hoping that anyone, old or new, would come to my aid. Stuck in the office, I watched and listened for anything that might be in either hallway.

After about a minute of hoping that no one would enter the office, I spotted a small beam of light in the main hallway, and with it came a voice. Incomprehensible, but it had to be Mike.

I took one step toward the main hallway, but quickly stopped myself. It's probably better to wait in here than risk a scuffle with my counterpart. Still, something was tugging at me to just get out of the office and try to finish this right now—not to target my counterpart, but Gold himself, who was probably still in Parts & Service.

The light in the main hallway grew larger, and soon I could barely make out the outlines of all the others. None of them seemed to bother to look down my way. They probably think I'm still in that room.

Calling out to them would be illogical—if I do, then Gold would just separate us again, or Old Bonnie would try to track me down.

Casually slipping out of the office, I peered around the hallway, looking for any red dots that were Old Bonnie's eyes. Finding the hallway to be completely black, I decided to proceed toward the others.

Somewhere on my path, around one of the party rooms closer to the office, I felt something reach out and wrap itself around my neck. The blur of purple in my vision was so brief I had no time to react before he pulled me into the room.

With his arm still around my neck, I reached behind me only to catch the open space where his face used to be. I continued to struggle under his grip, reaching behind myself to find something to latch onto, but the closest I got to something was the slight poke of one of the wires protruding from his missing arm.

And that meant he only has one arm to work with, giving me a huge advantage in this fight. Giving him a quick elbow to the stomach, I attempted to break free, but he didn't falter a bit.

Out of choices, I screamed out as loud as I can into the hallway. "Get the hell off of me!" I yell.

Some voices arose in the hallway, starting as whispers but quickly raising to a regular volume. A figure appeared in the doorway, but the animatronic there wasn't the one I was hoping to find while immobile due to Old Bonnie's grasp.

"Bonnie? Where are you?" Mike calls out. Foxy's head twitched to the side for a split second. They respond to noise.

"Over here!" I say, but Foxy is already towering over me. I moved my feet forward to see if I can slip out of my counterpart's hold, but he easily caught onto it, and hauled me straight back up to eye level with Foxy.

Suddenly, the entire room is lit up, and trying to look around Foxy, I can barely see a bit of brown from Old Freddy.

"Foxy? Bonnie? What are you two doing?" he says, grabbing Foxy's shoulder. Foxy just snarled in response, something he would never dare to do.

Then he turned back and faced me, holding his hook near my face. In the light, I could see a huge dent in his jaw, most likely caused by me. What was tough to decide was whether or not I should feel guilty, even though I knew that they would probably repair him anyway.

"Snap out of it!" Old Freddy urges, but they didn't respond.

Foxy leaned in closer, his hook still near my face. He brought up his other hand and reached for my face, but as his fingers were about to touch the mask, something pulled him straight back. Looking past his flailing arms, I found that Old Freddy had grabbed him from behind. He must have caught onto what was going on.

But I could also barely spot a bit of yellow behind them. At first I thought it was either Chica or her counterpart, but then I noticed that the yellow had too many smears to be one of them. It had to be Gold.

It sounded like something slid across the floor, which caught everyone's attention. Everyone looked back, and all of a sudden, Old Chica had gone missing. The smeared yellow in the back of the group had also disappeared.

The slight pause allowed me to yank Old Bonnie's arm away from me. I ducked under a swing of Foxy's hook and threw my right foot back, connecting with Old Bonnie's shin. Without wasting any time, I put as much space between us as I could by rushing out of the hall. Chica stopped me from going any further.

As Freddy blocked the doorway to stop Foxy and Old Bonnie from leaving the room, Mike pointed the flashlight back down the hall toward Parts & Service. Old Chica was standing in the middle of the hallway, staring directly at us. Gold must have gotten her as well and is now using her to try to break us up while the other two serve as a diversion.

"Uh, we've got company down the hall," says Mike.

Old Freddy turned and took a look at who it was. "You think he got her?"

"Yes," I say right away. Everyone else seemed to agree.

Deciding not to take any risks, I didn't wait for Old Chica to make a move when she approached us. I knew that if Gold didn't have control of her, she would definitely respond, but what if Gold makes her respond?

Not wanting to wait, I grabbed her arm the second she entered my reach. I kicked her away from everyone else, trying to buy some time to think.

Then I began to wonder when that morning bell would ring. It had to be close now, and if we want to end this tonight, we'll have to find Gold fast.

Maybe his next target would be Old Freddy. It seemed logical, as he was the only one in the old generation who still had his mind intact.

Spotting a bit of smeared yellow behind Old Freddy, I watched as Gold reached out for his back, preparing to run off back to Parts & Service. If he catches Old Freddy, then the four of us—Freddy, Chica, Mike, and I—wouldn't stand a chance.

Lunging toward Old Freddy, I wrapped my arms around something and held it back. The figure struggled, and I could barely hear Gold struggling under my grasp.

"Hold the other three off," I tell everyone. Old Freddy and Chica decided to focus on Foxy and Old Bonnie, while Freddy focused on Old Chica.

Gold continued to struggle, and I faltered a bit but recovered before he could zoom away. I reached for his face and pried his mask off, revealing the endoskeleton Old Freddy stuffed inside the suit.

With one hand, I continued to tear the rest of the costume off Gold, but I couldn't get everything off. The arms and legs caught little parts of the endoskeleton, threatening to tear the entire costume apart. Maybe it's what I wished for, but who knows where we might end up if something like that happens?

"Freddy, can you help? Old, I mean," I say. Freddy and Old Freddy both glanced at each other, and Old Freddy approached Gold while Freddy continued to hold back Old Chica.

Just as Old Freddy was about to pull the rest of the costume off the endoskeleton, I barely spotted Foxy out of the corner of my eye, sprinting toward Old Freddy. Foxy elbowed him, and he fell on top of Gold, bringing them both down to the floor. Thankfully, I wasn't in the way this time.

Old Freddy held onto Gold to prevent him from disappearing. I could tell Gold was trying to fade away, as his figure became translucent from time to time, but it wasn't working. He overused it.

Foxy tried to pull Old Freddy off of Gold, but Old Freddy refused to give in. Chica was doing what she could to hold off Old Bonnie, while Freddy didn't seem to have much trouble with Old Chica.

Mike, who had done nothing because he can't last ten seconds in a fight with an animatronic, appeared right behind Foxy and reached behind his neck. Foxy went limp, allowing Old Freddy to hold Gold in place and jerk the last of the costume off the endoskeleton.

Then an alarm rang. The lights came on, and Old Chica and Old Bonnie both collapsed to the floor.

* * *

I watched as they carried both the costume and endoskeleton out the back exit. There will be no more fighting from now on.

They brought Mangle back, fully repaired and in top-condition. I had to admit that he/she was in a better condition than me. I was just plain exhausted from fighting, and now I have exactly what I asked for.

There will be no more fighting at night. No more protecting the night guard, as there is no longer any threat to anyone with the occupation. The second Mike received his paycheck for the week, he requested to be moved back to the day shift.

Before the doors opened for the day—we had about ten minutes—I decided to check up on all the old animatronics in Parts & Service. Old Bonnie was still deactivated, though the other three were up. I spotted Foxy straightening his jaw, and noticed that he couldn't go more than three seconds without reaching up for it.

"Hey, I'm sorry about the jaw," I tell him.

He glanced at me and chuckled a bit. "Ah, I prob'ly deserved it! Af'er all, did I even know wha' I was doin'?"

I tried to laugh along with him, though anyone could tell it was fake. "No, I guess not." My fake smile faded quickly though. "I only wonder what my counterpart will think when he finds out."

"He hasn't spoken a word in over fourteen and a half years, as far as I know," Old Freddy mentions. "I'm sure he'll be able to handle it. Besides, if Foxy didn't know what he was doing, then what makes you think he knew what he was doing?"

I shrug. "Nothing."

"We'll explain it to him when he's back up. Just leave it to us."

"Thanks," I say, leaving the room. "I've got to entertain some kids now."

As I trod back to the main entrance, I saw a new list of rules hung on one of the walls. I started to read down the list, finding that most of them were still the same, but one additional rule has been added.

_6\. Don't touch Foxy_

I headed over to the front desk and found a calendar lying on top of all the prizes. It was flipped to the month of February 2010, and a certain date, Sunday the fourteenth, was circled in red, along with a small note other than the fact that it was Valentine's Day.

It read: RE-INTRODUCE THE PIRATE FOX

**END**


End file.
